fish for Idiom
fish for
try to get or to find out (something) by hinting at it She is always fishing for compliments when I see her at work.
fish for a compliment
hint that he wants a compliment If Al mentions cars, he's fishing for a compliment on his Jaguar.
fish for|fish
v.,
informal To try to get or to find out (something), by hinting or by a roundabout way to try to lead someone else to give or tell you what you want by hinting.
Jerry was always fishing for an invitation to Bob's house. Near examination time, some of the students fish for information.
fish for a compliment|compliment|compliments|fish|
v, phr. To try to make someone pay a compliment.
When Jim showed me his new car, I could tell that he was fishing for a compliment.fish for (something)
1. Literally, to seek a accurate affectionate of angle while fishing. I heard we're fishing for apricot today.2. To grope about for article with one's hands. I'm fishing for your buzz beneath the couch, but I don't anticipate it's down here, Mom!3. To accompany article indirectly, generally compliments, as by adage abrogating things about oneself. Quit fishing for compliments—we all admired your performance, OK?Learn more: fishfish for something
1. Lit. to try to bolt a accurate affectionate of fish. We are fishing for cod today, but we'll booty whatever we get. We will angle for branch from the riverbank.
2. Fig. to seek some affectionate of information. You could acquaint the advocate was fishing for article from the ambiguous way she asked the questions. The blast addition was fishing for too abundant information, so I afraid up.Learn more: fishfish for
1. Try to access article through artifice or indirectly. For example, He was consistently fishing for compliments, or, as William Makepeace Thackeray put it in Vanity Fair (1848): "The aboriginal woman who fishes for him, hooks him." [Mid-1500s]
2. Search for something, as in I've fished for it in all the drawers. [First bisected of 1700s] Learn more: fishfish for
v. To seek article by or as if by probing: I fished for my dejected socks in the top drawer of the dresser. Instead of aloof fishing for compliments, you should try to get effective criticism.
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