Adjacent Words

Soldier crab definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soldier Sol"dier, n. [OE. souldier, soudiour, souder, OF. soldier, soldoier, soldeier, sodoier, soudoier, soudier, fr. L. solidus a piece of money (hence applied to the pay of a soldier), fr. solidus solid. See Solid, and cf. Sold, n.] 1. One who is engaged in military service as an officer or a private; one who serves in an army; one of an organized body of combatants. I am a soldier and unapt to weep. --Shak. 2. Especially, a private in military service, as distinguished from an officer. It were meet that any one, before he came to be a captain, should have been a soldier. --Spenser. 3. A brave warrior; a man of military experience and skill, or a man of distinguished valor; -- used by way of emphasis or distinction. --Shak. 4. (Zo["o]l.) The red or cuckoo gurnard (Trigla pini.) [Prov. Eng.] 5. (Zo["o]l.) One of the asexual polymorphic forms of white ants, or termites, in which the head and jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest. See Termite. Soldier beetle (Zo["o]l.), an American carabid beetle (Chauliognathus Americanus) whose larva feeds upon other insects, such as the plum curculio. Soldier bug (Zo["o]l.), any hemipterous insect of the genus Podisus and allied genera, as the spined soldier bug (Podius spinosus). These bugs suck the blood of other insects. Soldier crab (Zo["o]l.) (a) The hermit crab. (b) The fiddler crab. Soldier fish (Zo["o]l.), a bright-colored etheostomoid fish (Etheostoma c[oe]ruleum) found in the Mississippi River; -- called also blue darter, and rainbow darter. Soldier fly (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of small dipterous flies of the genus Stratyomys and allied genera. They are often bright green, with a metallic luster, and are ornamented on the sides of the back with markings of yellow, like epaulets or shoulder straps. Soldier moth (Zo["o]l.), a large geometrid moth (Euschema militaris), having the wings bright yellow with bluish black lines and spots. Soldier orchis (Bot.), a kind of orchis (Orchis militaris).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fiddler Fid"dler, n. [AS. fi?elere.] 1. One who plays on a fiddle or violin. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species. The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle, hence the name; -- called also calling crab, soldier crab, and fighting crab. 3. (Zo["o]l.) The common European sandpiper (Tringoides hypoleucus); -- so called because it continually oscillates its body. Fiddler crab. (Zo["o]l.) See Fiddler, n., 2.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hermit Her"mit, n. [OE. ermite, eremite, heremit, heremite, F. hermite, ermite, L. eremita, Gr. ?, fr. ? lonely, solitary. Cf. Eremite.] 1. A person who retires from society and lives in solitude; a recluse; an anchoret; especially, one who so lives from religious motives. He had been Duke of Savoy, and after a very glorious reign, took on him the habit of a hermit, and retired into this solitary spot. --Addison. 2. A beadsman; one bound to pray for another. [Obs.] ``We rest your hermits.'' --Shak. Hermit crab (Zo["o]l.), a marine decapod crustacean of the family Pagurid[ae]. The species are numerous, and belong to many genera. Called also soldier crab. The hermit crabs usually occupy the dead shells of various univalve mollusks. See Illust. of Commensal. Hermit thrush (Zo["o]l.), an American thrush (Turdus Pallasii), with retiring habits, but having a sweet song. Hermit warbler (Zo["o]l.), a California wood warbler (Dendroica occidentalis), having the head yellow, the throat black, and the back gray, with black streaks.