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Meaning of "mackerel sky" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD MACKEREL SKY

From the similarity to the pattern on a mackerel's back.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF MACKEREL SKY

mackerel sky play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF MACKEREL SKY

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Mackerel sky is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES MACKEREL SKY MEAN IN ENGLISH?

mackerel sky

Altocumulus mackerel sky

A mackerel sky or buttermilk sky describes a sky mostly covered by altocumulus clouds. It is rare with altocumulus and extremely rare in its cirrocumulus form. The occurrence of these clouds is an indicator of moisture and instability at intermediate levels. Rainshowers or thunderstorms may occur should any lower cumulus clouds reach the layer of the altocumulus form. However, the most common reason for the occurrence of a mackerel sky is an old, disintegrating frontal system. The cloud was probably originally altostratus and has been broken up into altocumulus as the weather front disintegrates. Little, if any rain most often follows a mackerel sky. Another common place that it is found is in the warm sector of a depression preceding the cold front and associated showery weather, however usually here it is obscured by lower stratus clouds. Mackerel skies are spoken of in the popular bywords, "Mackerel in the sky, three days dry," "Mackerel sky, mackerel sky. Never long wet and never long dry," and the nautical weather rhyme, "Mare's tails and mackerel scales / Make tall ships carry low sails.

Definition of mackerel sky in the English dictionary

The definition of mackerel sky in the dictionary is a sky patterned with cirrocumulus or small altocumulus clouds.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE MACKEREL SKY

machzorim
macintosh
mack
mack daddy
Mackay
Mackellar
Mackem
Mackenzie
mackerel
mackerel breeze
mackerel shark
Mackerras
Mackinac
mackinaw
Mackinaw coat
Mackinder
mackintosh
mackle
mackling

WORDS THAT END LIKE MACKEREL SKY

blue-sky
Brodsky
Chomsky
dusky
ensky
frisky
husky
Kandinsky
night sky
pesky
pie in the sky
risky
Siberian husky
Sikorsky
sky
spy-in-the-sky
Stravinsky
Tchaikovsky
Trotsky
whisky

Synonyms and antonyms of mackerel sky in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «mackerel sky» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF MACKEREL SKY

Find out the translation of mackerel sky to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of mackerel sky from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «mackerel sky» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

鲭鱼的天空
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

cielo caballa
570 millions of speakers

English

mackerel sky
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

प्रकार की समुद्री मछली आकाश
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

الماكريل السماء
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

скумбрия небо
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

céu cavala
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

ম্যাকারল আকাশ
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

ciel de maquereau
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Langit makarel
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Makrele Himmel
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

いわし雲
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

고등어 하늘
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Langit mackerel
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

trời lốm đốm mây trắng hay xám
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

கானாங்கல் வானம்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

अन्न म्हणून उपयुक्त असा अंगावर पट्टे असलेला सागरी मासा
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Uskumru gökyüzü
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

cielo sgombro
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

makrela niebo
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

скумбрія небо
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

cer macrou
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

σκουμπρί ουρανό
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

makriel lug
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

makrill himmel
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

makrell himmel
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of mackerel sky

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «MACKEREL SKY»

The term «mackerel sky» is normally little used and occupies the 133.766 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Little used
38
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «mackerel sky» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of mackerel sky
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «mackerel sky».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «MACKEREL SKY» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «mackerel sky» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «mackerel sky» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about mackerel sky

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «MACKEREL SKY»

Discover the use of mackerel sky in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to mackerel sky and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Under a Mackerel Sky
Shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards 2013
Rick Stein, 2013
2
Mackerel Sky: A Novel
Reminiscent of crime films from the French New Wave, Mackerel Sky is a dark, thrilling novel about seduction, the intricate, often destructive relationship between parent and child, and the impulses of the heart.
Natalee Caple, 2013
3
Climate: Soul of the Earth
The next clouds in the sequence after the buttermilk sky are usually the formations known collectively as mackerel sky (opposite bottom). The old rhyme is “Mackerel sky, mackerel sky / Dry turns wet, and wet turns dry.” The mackerel sky ...
Klocek, Dennis, 2010
4
Watercolor Painting For Dummies
Cirrocumulus clouds are uniform smaller bumps, appearing above 18,000 feet, and are sometimes called a “mackerel sky” because of its fish scale–like appearance. Stratus clouds are the flatter layers that are common on a day when the sun ...
Colette Pitcher, 2011
5
Field Folly Snow: Poems
... the Eel Fisherman 57 Pillow with Boy and Fungus 58 Morning Begs 59 One Could Peach 61 Letter to the Stream Warden 63 How to Read a Mackerel Sky 64 [Off to the side of the road] 66 FIVE The Wish for a Field 69 Tecumseh and Ulysses ...
Cecily Parks, 2008
6
The Barque of Saviors: Eagle's Passage from the Nazi Navy to ...
The sun won't last, according to the mackerel sky off to the southwest. "Cielo empedrado, suelo mojado. A mackerel sky never left the earth dry," says Colonel Charles Garcia, the nephew of the admiral whose ashes we will commit to the deep.
Russell Drumm, 2001
7
Frontline Drama 5: Bush Theatre Book
A celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Bush Theatre Two new plays, Mackerel Sky by Hilary Fannin and Caravan by Helen Blakeman, are accompanied by highlights and reminiscences from Bush writers, actors and directors including Alan ...
Mike Bradwell, 1997
8
Longears, the Moon & Artichokes
Then, without warning, a slate gray curtain of fog began to set in, hiding the mackerel sky, a sky dappled with rows of small white fleecy clouds, like the pattern on a mackerel's back. Within a few minutes, Steve could barely see the highway.
Charles Gill, 2006
9
A More Tender Ocean
With A More Tender Ocean Caple turns her hand to poetry, and the results are no less dazzling. The poems were written using a Surrealist technique called automatic writing – a kind of poetic impressionism after speed-reading.
Natalee Caple, 2000
10
The Life of William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs
... on Contact Electricity; on a New Form of Astronomical Clock; on Deep-sea Soundings in a Ship moving at High Speed ; on Naval Signalling ; on a Practical Method of Tuning a Major Third ; and a Physical Explanation of the Mackerel Sky.
Silvanus Phillips Thompson, 2011

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «MACKEREL SKY»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term mackerel sky is used in the context of the following news items.
1
TV chef Rick Stein's business smarts earn a $61 million fortune
Rick recalls the before and after of TV in similar no-going-back terms. In his memoir Under a Mackerel Sky he says he thinks of himself — still ... «Herald Sun, Jun 15»
2
What's on in Sydney this weekend: 20 things to hear, see and do
... the British TV presenter, chef and fish lover Rick Stein chats to Richard Glover about his memoir, the rather fishy Under a Mackerel Sky. In the ... «Sydney Morning Herald, May 15»
3
State and national parks in Arizona
Something fishy over Tucson: Mackerel sky. Coachline Road Birding. Ride down the Rillito River path. Madera Canyon waterfall. Ventana ... «Arizona Daily Star, May 15»
4
Famished Castle: 'What happens lost love? Where does it go?'
It was also a kind of homecoming for Fannin, whose first stage play, Mackerel Sky, was staged by Red Kettle in Waterford in 1999. “In the 1980s ... «Irish Times, May 15»
5
The 12 types of clouds you meet in the spring and summer
Altocumulus clouds. Often called "mackerel sky" because of their resemblance to fish scales, these puffy clouds herald a change in the weather. «The Weather Network, May 15»
6
The cillíní of Achill: uninscribed graves that tell of a dark past
These lines are by the photographer, artist and writer René Böll, whose imminent poetry collection is called Under the Mackerel Sky and ... «Irish Times, Apr 15»
7
The Stein family saga: 40 years of the Seafood Restaurant
In his memoir Under a Mackerel Sky he says he thinks of himself – still – as essentially a shy person; television gave him the licence to perform. «The Guardian, Apr 15»
8
Eileen Ivers at Wolf Trap
She opened with “Coming Home” which she wrote herself in the French Canadian style and then played the moving “Mackerel Sky. «DC Metro Theater Arts, Apr 15»
9
Mental health mural painting moved until summer
The mural will be painted on the Mackerel Sky Gallery of Contemporary Craft building across from the CVS Pharmacy pick up, where there is a ... «MSU State News, Apr 15»
10
Thrive Sustainability event launched as part of Cornwall Business …
... being organised by MPAD's Mark Picken and Francis Clark's Nicky Cornish with support from Unlocking Potential and Mackerel Sky Events. «Western Morning News, Apr 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Mackerel sky [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/mackerel-sky>. Apr 2024 ».
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