crab

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Any crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of…

   Any crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace.

2. 2

   The meat of this crustacean, served as food

   The meat of this crustacean, served as food; crabmeat.

   • But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw[…]that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.
3. 3

   Various other animals that resemble true crabs

   Various other animals that resemble true crabs:

   • Despite its name, the hermit crab is not a true crab!
4. ›+ 35 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A bad-tempered person.

      • She so obviously enjoyed every second of the concert that only the most stubborn crab could not have been warmed by her charm.
   2. 5

      An infestation of pubic lice (Pthirus pubis).

      • Although crabs themselves are an easily treated inconvenience, the patient and his partner(s) clearly run major STD risks.
   3. 6

      Ellipsis of crab angle.

      • The pilot had to hold fifteen degrees of crab during the approach to keep her plane from getting blown off the localizer course.
   4. 7

      A playing card with the rank of three.

   5. 8

      A position in rowing where the oar is pushed under the rigger by the force of the water.

   6. 9

      A defect in an outwardly normal object that may render it inconvenient and troublesome to…

      A defect in an outwardly normal object that may render it inconvenient and troublesome to use.

      • Arrested by the low price of another “desirable residence”, I asked “What's the crab?” The agent assured me that there was no crab. I fell in love with this house at sight. Happily, I discovered that it was reputed to be haunted.
   7. 10

      An unsold book that is returned to the publisher.

      • […] unsold copies and settling the yearly accounts; while for the publisher begins the much dreaded season of "crabs," as […]
   8. 11

      On an insignia, a coat of arms symbol representing a senior rank.

   9. 12

      A member of the Crips.

   10. 13

       To fish for crabs.

   11. 14

       To ruin.

       • I thought at the time that that little speech meant a savin' of eight dollars,[…] But the Missus crabbed it a few minutes after her and Bess come in the room.
       • ‘Just so we understand each other,’ he said after a pause. ‘If you crab this case, you'll be in a jam.’
   12. 15

       To complain.

       • “The thing to do is to forget about the heat,” said Tom impatiently. “You make it ten times worse by crabbing about it.”
       • And if we do have to walk, I don't want to have to listen to you crabbing at me, Tad Trenton.
   13. 16

       To complain about.

       • Well, because of this state of things they crabbed his scheme from the first, ridiculed it, wrote against it, spread broadcast a feeling of distrust.
   14. 17

       To drift or move sideways or to leeward (by analogy with the movement of a crab).

       • Mutt stalked forward, matching him, step for step, crabbing sideways the way wolves do when they're going for the kill.
       • The aircraft crabbed sideways in the cross-winds and leveled to horizontal.
       • Another shouted order and again the squares crabbed sideways.
   15. 18

       To move in a manner that involves keeping low and clinging to surfaces.

       • Time slowed down then, became liquid in the aftermath of his grotesque, unfolding limbs; he crabbed his way down the faded line, rocking back and forth in braces he would use all his life.
       • Foot by foot, he crabbed his way down another ninety feet of rock chimney until he stood on solid ground again, still very much alive.
   16. 19

       To move (a camera) sideways.

       • If panning is not easy to make seem natural, crabbing the camera is even less like any action we perform with our eyes in the real world. There are a few circumstances in which we walk sideways: […]
   17. 20

       To navigate (an aircraft, e.g. a glider) sideways against an air current in order to…

       To navigate (an aircraft, e.g. a glider) sideways against an air current in order to maintain a straight-line course.

   18. 21

       To fly slightly off the straight-line course towards an enemy aircraft, as the machine…

       To fly slightly off the straight-line course towards an enemy aircraft, as the machine guns on early aircraft did not allow firing through the propeller disk.

   19. 22

       To back out of something.

   20. 23

       To make a loud, rapid rattling sound when scared, stressed, or agitated.

   21. 24

       A crab apple or wild apple.

       • I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow; And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts;
       • Just as by cultivation the acrid wild crab has been developed into the beautiful and luscious apple, may the unripe, ill-fed, neglected wild fruits of the fields and slums be developed into pure and noble and beautiful men and women.
   22. 25

       A tree bearing crab apples, which has a dogbane-like bitter bark with medical use.

   23. 26

       A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree

       A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick.

   24. 27

       A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc.

   25. 28

       A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc.

   26. 29

       A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn.

   27. 30

       A claw for anchoring a portable machine.

   28. 31

       To irritate, make surly or sour

   29. 32

       To be ill-tempered

       To be ill-tempered; to complain or find fault.

   30. 33

       To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick

       • Get you to bed, drab, courage Or l'll so crab your shoulders!
       • I was on a horse named The Skipper, a perfect terror to ride when he was in a bad humour, which he invariably was; nevertheless he was a splendid hunter and I never crabbed him.
       • The Shiremans had a down on him over stores he'd condemned as not fit for dogs, let alone able seamen, and they'd got wind he was a socialist, and they crabbed him all over the shipping companies' offices.
   31. 34

       To offend or insult.

       • If I think one thing and speak another, / I will both crab Christ and our Ladie His mother.
   32. 35

       The tree species Carapa guianensis, native to South America.

   33. 36

       Clipping of carabiner, modified based on likening the shape of a carabiner to a crab's…

       Clipping of carabiner, modified based on likening the shape of a carabiner to a crab's claw.

   34. 37

       A unit for measuring the intensity of astrophysical X-ray sources, defined as the…

       A unit for measuring the intensity of astrophysical X-ray sources, defined as the intensity of the Crab Nebula at the corresponding X-ray photon energy.

   35. 38

       The constellation and zodiacal sign Cancer.

       • This Crab, I confeſſe, did ill become the heavens[.]
       • Cancer, or the Crab, commandeth the Stomach, Limbs, Arteries, Milt, Liver and Gall.
       • The Crab was said to be sent by Juno to bite Hercules in the heel; the Scorpion to have been sent by Ceres to sting Orion.

The neighborhood

• synonymcrab applecrab apple