Adjacent Words

Shrimp definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SHRIMP, v.t. To contract. [Not in use.]
SHRIMP, n. [supra.]
1. A crustaceous animal of the genus Cancer. It has long slender feelers, claws with a single, hooked fang, and three pair of legs. It is esteemed delicious food.
2. A little wrinkled man; a dwarf; in contempt.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: disparaging terms for small people [syn: runt, shrimp, peewee, half-pint]
2: any of various edible decapod crustaceans [syn: prawn, shrimp]
3: small slender-bodied chiefly marine decapod crustaceans with a long tail and single pair of pincers; many species are edible v
1: fish for shrimp

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural shrimps or shrimp) Etymology: Middle English shrimpe; akin to Middle Low German schrempen to contract, wrinkle, Old Norse skorpna to shrivel up Date: 14th century 1. any of numerous mostly small and marine decapod crustaceans (suborders Dendrobranchiata and Pleocyemata) having a slender elongated body, a compressed abdomen, and a long spiny rostrum and including some (especially family Penaeidae) that are commercially important as food; also a small crustacean (as an amphipod or a branchiopod) resembling the true shrimps 2. a very small or puny person or thing • shrimplike adjective • shrimpy adjective II. intransitive verb Date: 1808 to fish for or catch shrimps

Britannica Concise

Any of approximately 2,000 decapod species (suborder Natantia) having a semitransparent body flattened from side to side and a flexible abdomen terminating in a fanlike tail. The appendages are modified for swimming, and the antennae are long and whiplike. Shrimps occur in shallow and deep ocean waters and in lakes and streams. Species range from less than an inch (a few millimeters) to about 8 in. (20 cm) long. Larger species are often called prawns. Shrimps swim backward by rapidly flexing the abdomen and tail. They eat small plants and animals; some species eat carrion. Many species are commercially important as food. See also fairy shrimp.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 (pl. same or shrimps) any of various small (esp. marine) edible crustaceans, with ten legs, grey-green when alive and pink when boiled. 2 colloq. a very small slight person. --v.intr. go catching shrimps. Phrases and idioms: shrimp plant an evergreen shrub, Justicia brandegeana, bearing small white flowers in clusters of pinkish-brown bracts. Derivatives: shrimper n. Etymology: ME, prob. rel. to MLG schrempen wrinkle, MHG schrimpfen contract, and SCRIMP

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shrimp Shrimp, v. t. [Cf. AS. scrimman to dry up, wither, MHG. schrimpfen to shrink, G. schrumpfen, Dan. skrumpe, skrumpes, Da. & Sw. skrumpen shriveled. Cf. Scrimp, Shrink, Shrivel.] To contract; to shrink. [Obs.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shrimp Shrimp, n. [OE. shrimp; -- probably so named from its shriveled appearance. See Shrimp, v.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any one of numerous species of macruran Crustacea belonging to Crangon and various allied genera, having a slender body and long legs. Many of them are used as food. The larger kinds are called also prawns. See Illust. of Decapoda. (b) In a more general sense, any species of the macruran tribe Caridea, or any species of the order Schizopoda, having a similar form. (c) In a loose sense, any small crustacean, including some amphipods and even certain entomostracans; as, the fairy shrimp, and brine shrimp. See under Fairy, and Brine.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(shrimps, or shrimp) Shrimps are small shellfish with long tails and many legs. Add the shrimp and cook for 30 seconds... N-COUNT

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A little diminutive person.

Moby Thesaurus

Chilopoda, Chordata, Dungeness crab, Echiuroidea, Ectoprocta, Entoprocta, Japanese crab, Lilliputian, Monoplacophora, Nemertinea, Phoronidea, Tom Thumb, a nobody, a nothing, angle, bait the hook, bantam, banty, blue point, bob, brownie, button, chit, cipher, clam, common man, coquillage, crab, crawdad, crawfish, crayfish, dap, dib, dibble, diminutive, drive, dummy, dwarf, elf, featherweight, figurehead, fingerling, fish, fly-fish, gig, gnome, go fishing, grig, guddle, homunculus, insignificancy, jack, jacklight, jackstraw, jig, langouste, lightweight, limpet, little fellow, little guy, littleneck clam, lobster, man of straw, manikin, mediocrity, midge, midget, mini, minikin, minnow, minny, mouse, mussel, nebbish, net, nobody one knows, nonentity, nubbin, obscurity, oyster, peewee, periwinkle, pip-squeak, pony, prawn, punk, pygmy, quahog, runt, scallop, scrub, seine, shellfish, slip, small fry, small potato, small potatoes, snail, snip, snippet, soft-shell crab, spin, squirt, squit, steamer, still-fish, tit, torch, trawl, troll, wart, whale, whelk, whiffet, whippersnapper, wisp