Pil"chard (?), n. [Cf. It. pilseir, W. pilcod minnows.] Zool.
A small European food fish (Clupea pilchardus) resembling the herring, but thicker and rounder. It is sometimes taken in great numbers on the coast of England.
Fools are as like husbands as pilchards are to herrings.
Shak.
© Webster 1913.