dun a also dum(b). Cp OED ~ a 1 'of a dull or dingy colour' for sense 1; for comb in sense 2: cp DC dun n Nfld (1819-); DAE dumbfish (1746-), dunfish (1818-) [an excellent type of cure].
   1 Of dried cod-fish, brown, discoloured through faulty drying and curing. Merges in some contexts with sense 2.
   [1806] 1951 DELDERFIELD 82 Most interesting is an account of the sale of 1,147 Portuguese quintals of Newfoundland fish in 1806. It was listed:— '661 Qtls large, 208 Qtls small, 278 Qtls dumb, wet and broken.' 1819 ANSPACH 440 To mention one defect more, [cod] may become dun, if left too long in the pile ... the weather beating into those piles softens the fish and gives it a black, snuffy, or dun colour. 1895 GRENFELL 60 If the fish has lain too long, it will be sodden, and go grey or dun. 1937 DEVINE 19 ~ Applied to a certain (bad) quality of dried codfish which has turned reddish in colour, due to insufficient salt, or on account of having been kept too long in a store away from the open air. M 71-103 Four or five good drying days of sun and wind would be sufficient to make (dry or cure) the fish. If as was often the case, the weather turned wet, and the partly dried fish had to remain in bulk too long, it would become dun, brown spots would appear on it. The fish would then have to be washed and scrubbed again to get rid of the brown spots.
   2 Comb dun fish, dum(b) fish: a grade or 'cull' of cod-fish exhibiting discoloration as a result of faulty drying and curing and hence unsuitable for the export market; cp CULLAGE, MUD FISH, SCRUFF.
   [1799] 1954 INNIS 300-1 'Dumb fish' or fish which had been kept too long on the flakes were seldom sent to market, being preferred by the Newfoundland people, and 'in most use at the first tables.' 1840 MURRAY ii, 127 There remain the dunfish and others discoloured, broken, and otherwise damaged, which nevertheless may be as fit as others for immediate consumption, to which they are therefore applied. [1895] 1897 Nfld Law Reports 835 The plaintiffs should have the privilege of rejecting the 'dunn' fish. 1939 EWBANK 61 It has been proved that stores where pink or dun fish has been kept become infected and unless treated will carry forward the germ to the following year. 1951 Nfld & Lab Pilot i, 207 Dun Fish shoal, with a depth of 9 fathoms over it. C 66-13 That's the third piece of dun fish I been culled in five minutes.

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