DCHP-1 Online
kiack ((1)) 1 kayak, kiak [prob. < Algonk. (Micmac)] N.S. 
n. a bony species of herring, Alosa pseudoharengus, of the eastern seaboard and Great Lakes.
See also: alewife
- 1849 Sometimes a hundred men, among whom is a sprinkling of Indians, are engaged in taking the "kiacks" from the stream.
- 1894 "Yes, they belong to the herring family, but we call them kyacks or alewives."
- 1956 When the salmon come up our river in the month of May they have companions of another kind, the rough-scaled and bony fish we call kiacks. The flesh of the kiack is white and sweet, but it is a chore to eat because of the bones.
- 1965 "Alewives" is the common name used in Britain and New England, while the MicMac Indians called the fish "kayaks," and in Latin it's Pomolobus pseudoharengus.
- 1849 Sometimes a hundred men, among whom is a sprinkling of Indians, are engaged in taking the "kiacks" from the stream.