Definition of "codlin"

Ay, how fine they be in their liveries, and each of 'em as full of meat as an egg, and as sleek and as round about as a mellow codlin.

1892, Alfred Tennyson, The Foresters: Robin Hood and Maid Marian, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., Act I, scene i, page 3

Delicate perfumes floated through the theatre; at the penny "dukey," fried fish and hot codlins reminded you more of food than fantasy.

1919, Thomas McDonald Rendle, Swings and Roundabouts: A Yokel in London, page 50