sprat

UK: /ˈspræt/ US: /spræt/ ,(sprat)

Inflections of 'sprat' (n):

sprats

npl

sprat

npl (Can be used as a collective plural for the fish—e.g. "Sprat travel in large schools.")

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

sprat /spræt/   n. [countable] , pl. sprats, (esp. when thought of as a group) sprat. 

1. Fish a small fish, a herring of the E North Atlantic.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

sprat  (sprat), n., pl. sprats, (esp. collectively) sprat for 1.

1. Fish a species of herring, Clupea sprattus, of the eastern North Atlantic.
2. a small or inconsequential person or thing.

• 1590–1600; variant of earlier sprot, Middle English, Old English (cognate with German Sprott); apparently same word as Old English sprott sprout, twig (for the two meanings compare sprag²); akin to Old English spryttan to sprout

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sprat / spræt/ noun

1. a small marine food fish, Clupea sprattus, of the NE Atlantic Ocean and North Sea: family Clupeidae (herrings)
   See also brisling
2. any of various small or young herrings

Etymology: 16th Century: variant of Old English sprott; related to Middle Low German sprott, Norwegian sprot small rod