sardines

"Sardines" is a word with two main uses. Most commonly, it refers to a type of small fish — but it also appears in a very popular figurative expression you will hear often in everyday English.

1nounsmall fish

Sardines are small, silvery sea fish. You can buy them fresh, but most people know them from tins (cans) — they are packed tightly together in oil or sauce. They are a very common, affordable food found all over the world.

food / everyday language · Modern, widely used

She opened a tin of sardines and ate them on toast for lunch.

Sardines are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for your heart.

The fishermen brought back hundreds of sardines from the sea.

2nounfigurativepacked tightly together (like sardines)

Because sardines in a tin are squeezed together with almost no space, English speakers use the phrase 'packed like sardines' to describe people or things that are crammed into a very small space. If you are on a crowded train where everyone is pressed against each other, you are 'packed like sardines'.

everyday language · Modern, widely used · figurative

We were packed like sardines on the rush-hour subway.

The concert hall was so full — people were crammed in like sardines.

Forty students were sardined into a tiny classroom with no air conditioning.

3nounthe children's game

Sardines is also the name of a fun hiding game, like a reverse version of hide-and-seek. One person hides, and everyone else searches for them. When you find the hidden person, you quietly squeeze in and hide with them — just like sardines in a tin! The last person to find the group loses.

games / childhood · Modern, widely used

The children played sardines at the birthday party.

In sardines, the hiding spot gets more and more crowded as people find you.

We played sardines in the dark and ended up with eight people hiding behind the sofa!