Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

kettle of fish

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.52 in modern English

Syllables: ket-tle of -fish
IPA

25

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An awkward situation.

noun

A situation recognized as different from or as an alternative to some other situation.

Example Sentences

"fine kettle of fish pretty kettle of fish"
""That's a fine kettle of fish," he exclaimed, then turned to his dinner companion. "Fine kettle of fish. I'm so hungry even that sounds good, and from the looks of this menu that's probably what I'll get.""
"another kettle of fish new kettle of fish different kettle of fish"
"Network Rail would have faced a bigger issue. Maintaining the track for one freight train a day is one thing - doing so for 200 passenger trains a day was a very different kettle of fish."

Etymology

From kettle, a variant of kiddle, a weir or fence of stakes in a stream used to catch fish.

Inflected Forms

kettles of fish (plural) kiddle of fish (alternative) kittle of fish (alternative) keddle of fish (alternative)

Frequently Paired Words

kettle[Appendix:Glossary

Synonyms

cauldron mess can of worms predicament ass in a sling bind bucket of syrup calvary cross cross to bear difficulty dilemma

Questions

What does kettle of fish mean?: An awkward situation.
Where does kettle of fish come from?: From kettle, a variant of kiddle, a weir or fence of stakes in a stream used to catch fish.

How to pronounce kettle of fish

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