neither fish nor fowl

neither fish nor fowl
phrasal
: one that does not belong to a definite class, party, or category : a nondescript person or thing; also : a person without convictions : trimmer — often used in the phrase neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring

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neither fish nor fowl phrase
used for saying that you do not know what something is
Thesaurus: ways of saying that you do not know or understandsynonym
Main entry: fish

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neither fish nor fowl (nor good red herring)
of indefinite character and difficult to identify or classify

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neither fish nor fowl
: a person or thing that does not belong to a particular class or category

The movie is neither fish nor fowl–it's not really a comedy, but it's too lighthearted to be called a drama.

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Main Entry:fish
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neither fish nor fowl — see fish, 1
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Main Entry:fowl

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neither ˌfish nor ˈfowl idiom
neither one thing nor another

The hovercraft has always suffered from the fact that it is neither fish nor fowl.

Main entry:fishidiom

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • neither\ fish\ nor\ fowl — • neither fish nor fowl • neither fish, flesh, nor fowl Something or someone that does not belong to a definite group or known class; a strange person or thing; someone or something odd or hard to understand. The man is neither fish nor fowl; he… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • Neither fish nor fowl — Fish Fish, n.; pl. {Fishes} (f[i^]sh [e^]z), or collectively, {Fish}. [OE. fisch, fisc, fis, AS. fisc; akin to D. visch, OS. & OHG. fisk, G. fisch, Icel. fiskr, Sw. & Dan. fisk, Goth. fisks, L. piscis, Ir. iasg. Cf. {Piscatorial}. In some cases,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • neither fish nor fowl — Something or someone that is neither fish nor fowl doesn t really fit into any one group …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • neither fish nor fowl — also[neither fish, flesh, nor fowl] Something or someone that does not belong to a definite group or known class; a strange person or thing; someone or something odd or hard to understand. * /The man is neither fish nor fowl; he votes Democrat or …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • neither fish nor fowl — also[neither fish, flesh, nor fowl] Something or someone that does not belong to a definite group or known class; a strange person or thing; someone or something odd or hard to understand. * /The man is neither fish nor fowl; he votes Democrat or …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • neither fish nor fowl —    Something or someone that is neither fish nor fowl doesn t really fit into any one group.   (Dorking School Dictionary)    ***    People or things that are difficult to classify because they are neither one thing nor another are neither fish… …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • neither fish nor fowl — not clearly separated, a little of both    Our experiment produced a being that was neither fish nor fowl …   English idioms

  • neither fish nor fowl — something that does not belong to a definite group I don t know where we should put those books in the library. They are neither fish nor fowl …   Idioms and examples

  • Neither fish nor fowl —   Something or someone that is neither fish nor fowl doesn t really fit into any one group …   Dictionary of English idioms

  • neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring — anything not belonging to a particular class or category; indefinite; indeterminate; to be hesitant or undecided; having no specific characteristics; neither one thing nor the other. May appear as neither fish nor good red herring, neither fish… …   Dictionary of ichthyology

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