[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

herring \her"ring\ he^r"ri^ng, n. oe. hering, as.
   haering; akin to d. haring, g. haumring, hering, ohg.
   haring, hering, and prob. to as. here army, and so called
   because they commonly move in large numbers. cf. harry.
   zool.
   one of various species of fishes of the genus clupea, and
   allied genera, esp. the common round or english herring
   clupea harengus of the north atlantic. herrings move in
   vast schools, coming in spring to the shores of europe and
   america, where they are salted and smoked in great
   quantities.
   1913 webster

   herring gull zool., a large gull which feeds in part upon
      herrings; esp., larus argentatus in america, and larus
      cachinnans in england. see gull.

   herring hog zool., the common porpoise.

   king of the herrings. zool.
   a the chimaera chimaera monstrosa which follows the
       schools of herring. called also rabbit fish in the u.
       k. see chimaera.
   b the opah.
       1913 webster
see also:
harry clupea clupea harengus herring gull larus argentatus larus cachinnans 
gull herring hog king of the herrings chimaera monstrosa rabbit fish 
chimaera 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

herring
     n 1: valuable flesh of fatty fish from shallow waters of northern
          atlantic or pacific; usually salted or pickled
     2: commercially important food fish of northern waters of both
        atlantic and pacific syn: clupea harangus
see also:
clupea harangus 

Herring >> H Words
Herring, definition of term: Herring
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Red Herring >> R Words
Red Herring, definition of term: Red Herring
red+herring_pag1.html