tunas

Meanings

1. 1nounplural

   Several species or individuals of a large, fast-swimming sea fish that is widely caught and eaten.

   Grammar: Plural: Atlantic and Pacific tunas, as opposed to uncountable tuna meat.

   Patterns

   • species of tunas
   • tunas in the sea

   Bluefin and yellowfin are two of the largest tunas.

   Many tunas migrate across entire oceans.

   The tunas were caught off the coast of Japan.

2. 2nounpluralregionalrare

   Plural of tuna in its less common sense: the pear-shaped fruits of the prickly pear cactus.

   Grammar: Plural of the fruit sense, mostly in Spanish-speaking regions.

   Patterns

   • tunas of the cactus
   • eat tunas

   The vendor sold fresh tunas from the cactus.

   Tunas can be red, green or yellow.

   We peeled the tunas and ate them chilled.

Word forms

Common combinations

species of tunas

There are several species of tunas in the Pacific.

wild tunas

Wild tunas can swim at great speed.

catch tunas

Boats catch tunas along the coast.

endangered tunas

Some endangered tunas are protected by law.

tunas and mackerels

Tunas and mackerels belong to the same family.

Synonyms and how they differ

tuna

Tuna is the more common plural and also the uncountable word for the fish as food, while tunas stresses separate kinds or fish.

bonitos

Bonitos are smaller fish related to tunas and are not as large or as valuable.

mackerels

Mackerels are a related but smaller group of fish with a different shape and flavour.

Word family

tuna noun

the fish or its meat

bluefin noun

a very large kind of tuna

tuna fish noun

tuna as food

tunny noun

an older British word for tuna

Commonly confused: tunas or tuna?

Practice

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