fugu en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈfuː.ɡuː/
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 河豚(ふぐ) (fugu, “blowfish”).
Meanings
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(uncountable) Blowfish: a delicacy popular in Japan served raw as sushi that may, if improperly prepared, contain deadly levels of neurotoxins.
A sluggish swimmer, fugu has stunted fins and often flat-lying spikes instead of scales, and when confronted by predators it compensates for its lack of speed by swallowing enough water to swell up until its spikes stand on end, so it looks like an angry armored balloon.
2020 December 4, Ligaya Mishan, “The Appealing and Potentially Lethal Delicacy That Is Fugu”, in The New York Times Style Magazine, archived from the original on 01 Jan 2021:Twenty minutes later, the chef has successfully prepared a whole fugu—or puffer fish—a Japanese delicacy whose capacity to maim and kill is dividing the country’s culinary world.
2016 August 5, Justin McCurry, “Last supper? Japan's diners divided over killer puffer fish”, in The Guardian, →ISSN: