Adjacent Words

Crab definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CRAB, n. [Gr. L.]
1 A crustaceous fish, the cray-fish, Cancer, a genus containing numerous species. They have usually ten feet, two of which are furnished with claws; two eyes, pedunculated, elongated and movable. To this genus belong the lobster, the shrimp, etc.
2. A wild apple, or the tree producing it; so named from its rough taste.
3. A peevish morose person.
4. A wooden engine with three claws for launching ships and heaving them into the dock.
5. A pillar used sometimes for the same purpose as a capstan.
6. Cancer, a sign in the zodiac.
Crabs claws, in the materia medica, the tips of the claws of the common crab; used as absorbents.
Crabs eyes, in pharmacy, concretions formed in the stomach of the cray-fish. They are rounded on one side, and depressed and sinuated on the other, considerably heavy, moderately hard, and without smell. They are absorbent, discussive and diuretic.
Crab-lice, small insects that stick fast to the skin.
CRAB, a. Sour; rough; austere.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: decapod having eyes on short stalks and a broad flattened carapace with a small abdomen folded under the thorax and pincers
2: a quarrelsome grouch [syn: crab, crabby person]
3: (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer [syn: Cancer, Crab]
4: the fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22 [syn: Cancer, Cancer the Crab, Crab]
5: the edible flesh of any of various crabs [syn: crab, crabmeat]
6: a louse that infests the pubic region of the human body [syn: crab louse, pubic louse, crab, Phthirius pubis]
7: a stroke of the oar that either misses the water or digs too deeply; "he caught a crab and lost the race" v
1: direct (an aircraft) into a crosswind
2: scurry sideways like a crab
3: fish for crab
4: complain; "What was he hollering about?" [syn: gripe, bitch, grouse, crab, beef, squawk, bellyache, holler]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English crabbe, from Old English crabba; akin to Old High German krebiz crab and perhaps to Old English ceorfan to carve — more at carve Date: before 12th century 1. plural crabs also crab any of numerous chiefly marine broadly built decapod crustaceans: a. any of an infraorder (Brachyura) with a short broad usually flattened carapace, a small abdomen that curls forward beneath the body, short antennae, and the anterior pair of limbs modified as grasping pincers b. any of various crustaceans of an infraorder (Anomura) resembling true crabs in the more or less reduced condition of the abdomen 2. capitalized cancer 1 3. plural infestation with crab lice 4. the angular difference between an aircraft's course and the heading necessary to make that course in the presence of a crosswind II. verb (crabbed; crabbing) Date: 1657 intransitive verb 1. to fish for crabs 2. a. (1) to move sideways indirectly or diagonally (2) to crab an airplane b. to scuttle or scurry sideways transitive verb 1. to cause to move sideways or in an indirect or diagonal manner; specifically to head (an airplane) into a crosswind to counteract drift 2. to subject to crabbing • crabber noun III. noun Etymology: Middle English crabbe, perhaps from crabbe ¹crab Date: 14th century crab apple IV. noun Date: 1580 an ill-tempered person ; grouch V. verb (crabbed; crabbing) Etymology: Middle English crabben, probably back-formation from crabbed Date: 1662 transitive verb 1. to make sullen ; sour <old age has crabbed his nature> 2. to complain about peevishly 3. spoil, ruin intransitive verb carp, grouse <always crabs about the weather> • crabber noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 a any of numerous ten-footed crustaceans having the first pair of legs modified as pincers. b the flesh of a crab, esp. Cancer pagurus, as food. 2 (the Crab) the zodiacal sign or constellation Cancer. 3 (in full crab-louse) (often in pl.) a parasitic louse, Phthirus pubis, infesting hairy parts of the body and causing extreme irritation. 4 a machine for hoisting heavy weights. Phrases and idioms: catch a crab Rowing effect a faulty stroke in which the oar is jammed under water or misses the water altogether. crab-grass US a creeping grass infesting lawns. crab-pot a wicker trap for crabs. Derivatives: crablike adj. Etymology: OE crabba, rel. to ON krafla scratch 2. n. 1 (in full crab-apple) a small sour apple-like fruit. 2 (in full crab tree or crab-apple tree) any of several trees bearing this fruit. 3 a sour person. Etymology: ME, perh. alt. (after CRAB(1) or CRABBED) of earlier scrab, prob. of Scand. orig. 3. v. (crabbed, crabbing) colloq. 1 tr. & intr. criticize adversely or captiously; grumble. 2 tr. act so as to spoil (the mistake crabbed his chances). Etymology: orig. of hawks fighting, f. MLG krabben

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crab Crab (kr[a^]b), n. [AS. crabba; akin to D. krab, G. krabbe, krebs, Icel. krabbi, Sw. krabba, Dan. krabbe, and perh. to E. cramp. Cf. Crawfish.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) One of the brachyuran Crustacea. They are mostly marine, and usually have a broad, short body, covered with a strong shell or carapace. The abdomen is small and curled up beneath the body. Note: The name is applied to all the Brachyura, and to certain Anomura, as the hermit crabs. Formerly, it was sometimes applied to Crustacea in general. Many species are edible, the blue crab of the Atlantic coast being one of the most esteemed. The large European edible crab is Cancer padurus. Soft-shelled crabs are blue crabs that have recently cast their shells. See Cancer; also, Box crab, Fiddler crab, Hermit crab, Spider crab, etc., under Box, Fiddler. etc. 2. The zodiacal constellation Cancer. 3. [See Crab, a.] (Bot.) A crab apple; -- so named from its harsh taste. When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl, Then nightly sings the staring owl. --Shak. 4. A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick. [Obs.] --Garrick. 5. (Mech.) (a) A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc. (b) A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc. (c) A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn. (d) A claw for anchoring a portable machine. Calling crab. (Zo["o]l.) See Fiddler., n., 2. Crab apple, a small, sour apple, of several kinds; also, the tree which bears it; as, the European crab apple (Pyrus Malus var. sylvestris); the Siberian crab apple (Pyrus baccata); and the American (Pyrus coronaria). Crab grass. (Bot.) (a) A grass (Digitaria, or Panicum, sanguinalis); -- called also finger grass. (b) A grass of the genus Eleusine (E. Indica); -- called also dog's-tail grass, wire grass, etc. Crab louse (Zo["o]l.), a species of louse (Phthirius pubis), sometimes infesting the human body. Crab plover (Zo["o]l.), an Asiatic plover (Dromas ardeola). Crab's eyes, or Crab's stones, masses of calcareous matter found, at certain seasons of the year, on either side of the stomach of the European crawfishes, and formerly used in medicine for absorbent and antacid purposes; the gastroliths. Crab spider (Zo["o]l.), one of a group of spiders (Laterigrad[ae]); -- called because they can run backwards or sideways like a crab. Crab tree, the tree that bears crab applies. Crab wood, a light cabinet wood obtained in Guiana, which takes a high polish. --McElrath. To catch a crab (Naut.), a phrase used of a rower: (a) when he fails to raise his oar clear of the water; (b) when he misses the water altogether in making a stroke.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crab Crab (kr[a^]b), v. t. 1. To make sour or morose; to embitter. [Obs.] Sickness sours or crabs our nature. --Glanvill. 2. To beat with a crabstick. [Obs.] --J. Fletcher.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crab Crab, v. i. (Naut.) To drift sidewise or to leeward, as a vessel. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crab Crab, a. [Prob. from the same root as crab, n.] Sour; rough; austere. The crab vintage of the neighb'ring coast. --Dryden.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(crabs) A crab is a sea creature with a flat round body covered by a shell, and five pairs of legs with large claws on the front pair. Crabs usually move sideways. N-COUNT • Crab is the flesh of this creature eaten as food.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To catch a crab; to fall backwards by missing one's stroke in rowing.

Moby Thesaurus

Chinese windlass, Dungeness crab, Japanese crab, Spanish windlass, air a grievance, bank, beef, bellyache, bellyacher, bitch, bleat, blue point, bollix, capstan, cat flea, chigoe, clam, clamor, cockroach, complain, complainant, complainer, coquillage, cramp, crane, crank, crawdad, crawfish, crayfish, crib, crimp, croak, croaker, crosspatch, derrick, dip, dog flea, erector, faultfinder, feather, fishtail, flea, forklift, foul up, fret, fret and fume, frondeur, fuss, gantry crane, grayback, gripe, griper, groan, grouch, grouse, grouser, growl, growler, grumble, grumbler, grunt, gum, gum up, hoist, holler, howl, hydraulic tailgate, jack, jackscrew, jigger, kick, kicker, kvetch, langouste, lever, lift, lifter, limpet, littleneck clam, lobster, lodge a complaint, loop, louse, louse up, malcontent, mite, murmur, murmurer, mussel, mutter, mutterer, nit, oyster, parasite, periwinkle, plow, porpoise, prawn, pull out, pull up, push down, quahog, queer, querulous person, raise a howl, reactionary, reactionist, rebel, red bug, reel, register a complaint, roach, roll, sand flea, scallop, shellfish, shrimp, sideslip, skid, snafu, snail, soft-shell crab, sorehead, spin, spiral, squawk, steamer, stunt, tackle, take on, undulate, vermin, weevil, whelk, whiner, winch, windlass, yammer, yap, yaw, yawp, yelp