ˈhaləbət also ˈhäl-; usu -bəd.+V noun
( plural halibut also halibuts )
Etymology: Middle English halybutte, from haly, holy holy + butte flatfish, from its being eaten on holy days — more at holy , butt
: the largest of the flatfishes formerly regarded as forming a single species but now usually divided into an Atlantic species ( Hippoglossus hippoglossus ) and a Pacific ( H. stenolepis ), being an inhabitant of all northern seas, and constituting one of the largest of teleost fishes, the female sometimes weighing several hundred pounds though the male rarely weighs over 50 pounds — see arrow-toothed halibut , california halibut