Small, silvery fish often packed tightly together in cans with oil or sauce, commonly eaten as a snack or in salads.
Named after Sardinia, the Mediterranean island where these fish were historically abundant and commonly caught, the name entered English through Greek and Latin.
The phrase 'packed like sardines' came from how these fish are arranged in cans—and it's actually an accidental design benefit: the tight packing preserves them better and makes them shelf-stable for years!
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