ika
1. (noun) fish, marine animal, aquatic animal - any creature that swims in fresh or salt water including marine mammals such as whales.
Ka kite a ia i te kekeno e noho ana i te ākau, ā ko te mea i te ringa o taua tamaiti he tarapu tera hōiho, ā, nā taua tamaiti i patu taua ika ki taua tarapu tera (TW 31/8/1878:432). / He saw a seal sitting on the shore, and the thing in that boy's hand was a horse’s saddle stirrup and the boy beat that animal with that saddle stirrup.
Ka kī ngā pihapiha o te ika rā i te onepū, ka mate (NM 1928:29). / When the blowholes of that whale were full of sand, it died.
2. (noun) slain warrior, victim.
Kei te urupā o Muruika, i Ōhinemutu i Rotorua, te rangatira nei e okioki ana, kei te taha tonu o tōna matua tipuna, o ōna whanaunga, me ngā ika a Whiro o ngā pakanga e rua o te ao (TTR 2000:52). / This leader rests at the Muruika cemetery at Ōhinemutu in Rotorua right beside his father and other relatives and the veterans of two world wars.
3. (noun) prized possession - a figurative use.
Ka haramai a Ngāhue ki te whai mai i tana ika, arā i te pounamu (JPS 1899:49). / Ngāhue came in pursuit of his prized possession, that is, of greenstone.
Synonyms: matahīapo
