About The Word Crab

Bay Area Crosswords

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Crab

Crab Meaning & Definition
Crab Definition And Meaning

What's The Definition Of Crab?

[n] a stroke of the oar that either misses the water or digs too deeply; "he caught a crab and lost the race"
[n] decapod having eyes on short stalks and a broad flattened carapace with a small abdomen folded under the thorax and pincers
[n] infests the pubic region of the human body
[n] the edible flesh of any of various crabs
[n] the fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22
[n] (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer
[n] a quarrelsome grouch
[v] fish for crab

Synonyms | Synonyms for Crab: Cancer | Cancer | Cancer the Crab | crab louse | crabby person | crabmeat | Phthirius pubis | pubic louse

Related Terms | Find terms related to Crab: air a grievance | bank | beef | bellyache | bellyacher | bitch | bleat | blue point | bollix | capstan | cat flea | chigoe | Chinese windlass | clam | clamor | cockroach | complain | complainant | complainer | coquillage | cramp | crane | crank | crawdad | crawfish | crayfish | crib | crimp | croak | croaker | crosspatch | derrick | dip | dog flea | Dungeness crab | 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 | Japanese crab | 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 | Spanish windlass | spin | spiral | squawk | steamer | stunt | tackle | take on | undulate | vermin | weevil | whelk | whiner | winch | windlass | yammer | yap | yaw | yawp | yelp

See Also | Alaska crab | Alaska crab | Alaska king crab | Alaska king crab | Alaskan king crab | Alaskan king crab | blue crab | Brachyura | Cancer borealis | Cancer irroratus | Cancer magister | churl | crab cocktail | crab legs | crank | crosspatch | decapod | decapod crustacean | Dungeness crab | Dungeness crab | fiddler crab | fish | genus Phthirius | genus Phthirus | grouch | grump | hard-shell crab | house | human | individual | Japanese crab | Jonah crab | king crab | king crab | louse | mansion | Menippe mercenaria | mortal | Paralithodes camtschatica | pea crab | person | Phthirius | Phthirus | planetary house | rock crab | row | rowing | shellfish | sign | sign of the zodiac | soft-shell crab | soft-shell crab | soft-shelled crab | soft-shelled crab | somebody | someone | soul | spider crab | star sign | stone crab | stone crab | suborder Brachyura | sucking louse | swimming crab

Crab In Webster's Dictionary

\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.
\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.
\Crab\, v. i. (Naut.) To drift sidewise or to leeward, as a vessel. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
\Crab\, a. [Prob. from the same root as crab, n.] Sour; rough; austere. The crab vintage of the neighb'ring coast. --Dryden.

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