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Received-Pronunciation:
/pɪˈɹɑːn(j)ə/
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Southern-England:
Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American:
/pɪˈɹɑn(j)ə/
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General-American:
/pɪˈɹæn(j)ə/
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CMU ARPABET:
P IH0 R AE1 N HH AH0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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Any of certain freshwater fish of the subfamily Serrasalminae, native to South America; they are characterised by razor-sharp teeth and a reputation of being ferocious predators (despite most species being omnivorous).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, ichthyology, natural-sciences, zoology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Someone, especially a critic, who appears to be part of a swarm and attacks someone when they are vulnerable, as if in a feeding frenzy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: derogatory, figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
small voraciously carnivorous freshwater fishes of South America that attack and destroy living animals
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: pirana, caribe
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: characin, characin fish, characid
someone who attacks in search of booty
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: marauder, predator, vulture
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: attacker, aggressor, assailant, assaulter
Narrower terms: moss-trooper
First attested in 1869. The term entered English either via Portuguese piranha or Spanish piraña, from Old Tupi pirãîa.
Across languages
Translations 47 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic :
بِيرَانَا
(bīrānā)
— South American fish
Assamese :
পিৰানা
(pirana)
— South American fish
Belarusian :
піра́ння
(piránnja)
— South American fish
Bulgarian :
пира́ня
(piránja)
— South American fish
Catalan :
piranya
— South American fish
Chamicuro :
kas̈hajpa
— South American fish
Chinese Mandarin :
食人鯧 /食人鲳
(shírénchāng)
— South American fish
Chinese Mandarin :
水虎魚 /水虎鱼
(shuǐhǔyú)
— South American fish
Chinese Mandarin :
比拉魚 /比拉鱼
(bǐlāyú)
— South American fish
Chinese Mandarin :
食人魚 /食人鱼
(shírényú)
— South American fish
Czech :
piraňa
— South American fish
Danish :
piratfisk
— South American fish
Dutch :
piranha
— South American fish
Dutch :
pireng
— South American fish
Faroese :
piranja
— South American fish
Finnish :
piraija
— South American fish
French :
piranha
— South American fish
German :
Piranha
— South American fish
Greek :
πιράνχας
(piránchas)
— South American fish
Hebrew :
פיראניה
(pirana)
— South American fish
Hindi :
पिरान्हा
(pirānhā)
— South American fish
Hungarian :
pirája
— South American fish
Hungarian :
piranha
— South American fish
Italian :
piranha
— South American fish
Japanese :
ピラニア
(pirania)
— South American fish
Korean :
피라냐
(piranya)
— South American fish
Malay :
ikan pirana
— South American fish
Malay :
pirana
— South American fish
Malayalam :
പിരാന
(pirāna)
— South American fish
Norwegian :
piraja
— South American fish
Norwegian Bokmål :
piraja
— South American fish
Norwegian Nynorsk :
piraja
— South American fish
Old Tupi :
pirãîa
— South American fish
Persian :
پیرانا
(pirânâ)
— South American fish
Polish :
pirania
— South American fish
Portuguese :
piranha
— South American fish
Romanian :
pirania
— South American fish
Russian :
пира́нья
(piránʹja)
— South American fish
Slovak :
piraňa
— South American fish
Spanish :
piraña
— South American fish
Sranan Tongo :
piren
— South American fish
Swedish :
piraya
— South American fish
Thai :
ปลาปิรันยา
(bplaa bpì-ran-yaa)
— South American fish
Turkish :
pirana
— South American fish
Ukrainian :
піра́нья
(piránʹja)
— South American fish
Vietnamese :
cá răng đao
— South American fish
Vietnamese :
cá piranha
— South American fish
