The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Pilchard \Pil"chard\, n. [Cf. It. pilseir, W. pilcod minnows.]
   (Zool.)
   A small European food fish (Clupea pilchardus) resembling
   the herring, but thicker and rounder. It is sometimes taken
   in great numbers on the coast of England.
   [1913 Webster]

         Fools are as like husbands as pilchards are to
         herrings.                                --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

pilchard
    n 1: small fatty fish usually canned [syn: sardine,
         pilchard]
    2: small fishes found in great schools along coasts of Europe;
       smaller and rounder than herring [syn: pilchard, sardine,
       Sardina pilchardus]