fish for

phrasal verb

fished for; fishing for; fishes for

: to ask for or try to get (something, such as praise or attention) in an indirect way

I think he offers apologies for his cooking as a way of fishing for compliments.

fishing for answers

Examples of fish for in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Reed and other members of the Karuk Tribe have been fishing for fall-run Chinook. —

Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2024 There's no good answer to a question like that, but Baier went fishing for one. —

Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 17 Oct. 2024 In other words, organizations are fishing for talent in a smaller pond. —

Matthew Reeves, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024 The waterfront was closed to commercial fishing for three months, and the 12,000 families that depend on fishing for their income have only gotten a fraction of the $72 million that Withanage, founder of Sri Lanka's nonprofit Centre for Environmental Justice, believes they are owed. —

CBS News, 3 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for fish for