Chiefly U.S. [? ad. Du. and G. spiering smelt (see SPARLING).] a. U.S. The anchovy. b. Ground spearing (see quots.).
1838[?]. Encycl. Metrop. (1845), XXIV. 333/2. Saurus Myops, Cuv.;… Mouse-eyed Saury…. Is found off St. Helena, and called by the colonists the Ground Spearing.
1884. Goode, Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim., 612. The fishermen distinguish it [Anchovy] from the true ‘Whitebait,’ the young of the herring, calling it ‘Spearing.’
1896. Jordan & Evermann, Fishes N. & Middle Amer., 533. Trachinocephalus myops,… Ground Spearing;… common in West Indies and Brazil.
