like sardines

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"If Ebola comes, we'll be wiped out as we're packed like sardines," Dorcas Mapenzi said at the Kingonze camp on the outskirts of Bunia, the provincial capital.

From Barron's • May 29, 2026

At night, bedbugs nibbled at the 312 people laying like sardines on the floor of Namazi’s section of Ward 4.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

Victoria's diet included cod liver oil, lard, salmon oil and oily fish like sardines, mackerel and salmon.

From BBC • May 20, 2025

The bloom currently wreaking havoc off the coast produces a neurotoxin called domoic acid, which accumulates in small fish like sardines and anchovies.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2025

And then we would be thrown in the paddy wagons, and sometimes we were stacked in there like sardines in a can.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry