CRAB

crab

(noun) a stroke of the oar that either misses the water or digs too deeply; “he caught a crab and lost the race”

crab

(noun) decapod having eyes on short stalks and a broad flattened carapace with a small abdomen folded under the thorax and pincers

crab, crabmeat

(noun) the edible flesh of any of various crabs

Cancer, Cancer the Crab, Crab

(noun) the fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22

Cancer, Crab

(noun) (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer

crab, crabby person

(noun) a quarrelsome grouch

gripe, bitch, grouse, crab, beef, squawk, bellyache, holler

(verb) complain; “What was he hollering about?”

crab

(verb) fish for crab

crab

(verb) scurry sideways like a crab

crab

(verb) direct (an aircraft) into a crosswind

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

crab (countable and uncountable, plural crabs)

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

(uncountable) The meat of this crustacean, served as food; crabmeat

A bad-tempered person.

(in plural crabs, informal) An infestation of pubic lice (Pthirus pubis).

(slang) A playing card with the rank of three.

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

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

(dated) An unsold book that is returned to the publisher.

Verb

crab (third-person singular simple present crabs, present participle crabbing, simple past and past participle crabbed)

(intransitive) To fish for crabs.

(transitive, US, slang) To ruin.

(intransitive) To complain.

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

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

(transitive, film, television) To move (a camera) sideways.

(obsolete, World War I), 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.

(rare) To back out of something.

Etymology 2

Noun

crab (plural crabs)

The crab apple or wild apple.

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

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

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

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

A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn.

A claw for anchoring a portable machine.

Synonyms

• (crab apple): crab apple

• (tree): crab apple

Verb

crab (third-person singular simple present crabs, present participle crabbing, simple past and past participle crabbed)

(obsolete) To irritate, make surly or sour

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

(British dialect) To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick

Etymology 3

Possibly a corruption of the genus name Carapa

Noun

crab (plural crabs)

The tree species Carapa guianensis, native to South America.

Etymology 4

Noun

crab (plural crabs)

(informal) Short for carabiner.

Anagrams

• BRAC, RBAC, carb, carb-, cbar

Source: Wiktionary

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Crab (krb), n. Etym: [AS. crabba; akin to D. krab, G. krabbe, krebs, Icel. krabbi, Sw. krabba, Dan. krabbe, and perh. to E. cramp. Cf. Crawfish.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Definition: 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. Etym: [See Crab, a.] (Bot.)

Definition: 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. (Zoöl.) 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 (Zoöl.), a species of louse (Phthirius pubis), sometimes infesting the human body.

– Crab plover (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), one of a group of spiders (Laterigradæ); -- 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 (krb), 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.)

Definition: To drift sidewise or to leeward, as a vessel. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Crab, a. Etym: [Prob. from the same root as crab, n.]

Definition: Sour; rough; austere. The crab vintage of the neighb'ring coast. Dryden.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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