/dawg"fish', dog"-/ , n. , pl. ( esp. collectively ) dogfish , ( esp. referring to two or more kinds or species ) dogfishes .
1. any of several small sharks, esp. of the genera Mustelus and Squalus, that are destructive to food fishes.
2. any of various other fishes, as the bowfin.
[ 1425-75; earlier dokefyche; late ME. See DOG, FISH ]