Definition of "sardine"

sardine

/sɑːˈdiːn/

noun
plural sardines
1. Any one of several species of small herring which are commonly preserved in olive oil or in tins for food, especially the pilchard, or European sardine Sardina pilchardus (syn. Clupea pilchardus). The California sardine Sardinops sagax (syn. Clupea sagax) is similar. The American sardines of the Atlantic coast are mostly the young of the Atlantic herring and of the menhaden.
2. (obsolete) carnelian
  Quotations
  And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Revelation 4:3
3. (figurative) Someone packed or crammed into a small space.
verb
third-person singular simple present sardines, present participle sardining, simple past and past participle sardined
1. to fish for sardines
  Quotations
  No one on Monhegan says they saw them, but a man sardining says he saw it headed there, or at least some boat with people atop it.
  1997, Peter Landesman, The raven: a novel
2. to pack or cram together tightly.
  Quotations
  Six-foot- four McMichael (a past master at the art of sardining) not only crammed enough clothes for the trip into the mighty midget, but carried a full set of golf clubs and a banjo, as well!
  1954, Tom McCahill, The modern sports car
  Would it be unbearably elitist to suggest that they would be more enjoyable still if the director removed a row or two of chairs, instead of sardining as many listeners as possible into the intimate music room?
  1986, The New Yorker - Volumen 62
  There were already six members of the Nureyev family living in a room sixteen meters square, the children sardined on one mattress on the floor, their parents separated by only a curtain.
  2007, Julie Kavanagh, Nureyev: The Life