blue catfish

1 of 2

noun (1)

: a large bluish catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) of the Mississippi River valley that may weigh over 100 pounds (45 kilograms)

blue cat

2 of 2

noun (2)

variants or blue catfish or blue channel cat or blue channel catfish
: a large bluish catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) of the Mississippi valley that may exceed 100 pounds in weight and is an important food fish

Examples of blue catfish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Anglers in Arkansas have caught some behemoth fish to earn records, including a 116-pound blue catfish in 2001. — Mike Stunson, Kansas City Star, 23 July 2025 Micka Burkhart caught a 122 pound and 3 ounce blue catfish in the Barkley Reservoir on June 28, 2023. — Katie Nixon, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Nov. 2025 Of that, $2 million will support the department's ongoing efforts to mitigate invasive blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay. — Caroline Foreback, CBS News, 29 June 2026 Harvesting all those invasive blue catfish and Chesapeake Channa (northern snakehead) in the Chesapeake Bay would also help. — Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 12 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for blue catfish

Word History

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1818, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1818, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of blue catfish was in 1818

Rhymes for blue catfish

See All Rhymes for blue catfish

Browse Nearby Words

blue cat
blue catfish
blue cheese
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Blue catfish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blue%20catfish. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All