sardine

Everyday

1. A sardine is a small, silvery sea fish, often eaten from a tin. tree →
2. (idiom) «Packed like sardines» means squashed very tightly together. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life sardines come in tins, on toast. In science they swim in big shoals and are food for bigger animals. «Sardines» is also a children's hide-and-seek game where everyone squeezes into the hiding place. Phrases: «a tin of sardines», «packed like sardines».

Examples

• We had sardines on toast for tea. tree →
• The bus was full; we were packed like sardines. tree →
• Dolphins chase shoals of sardines. tree →
• A tin holds 6 sardines; how many in 4 tins? (24) tree →
• At the party we played sardines. tree →
• Sardines are oily fish and are good for you. tree →
• In fact the wagon was so closely packed with boys of all ages that it looked like a box of sardines. tree →

Note

Countable: a sardine, sardines. «Sardines» is also the name of a game (no article: «play sardines»).