Crab
Pronunciation
- enPR: krăb, IPA: /kræb/
- Rhymes: -æb
Origin 1
From Middle English crabbe, from Old English crabba, from Proto-Germanic *krabbô (compare Dutch krab, Low German Krabb, Swedish krabba), from *krabbÅnÄ… 'to creep, crawl' (compare East Frisian kraabje, Dutch krabben, Bavarian German krepsen), from Proto-Indo-European *grobÊ°- ("scratch, claw at"), a variant of *gerebÊ°-. More at carve.
Full definition of crab
Noun
crab
(plural crabs)- (zoology) A crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace.
- A bad-tempered person.
- (in plural crabs, informal) An infestation of pubic lice, .''Although crabs themselves are an easily treated inconvenience, the patient and his partner(s) clearly run major STD risks
- (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.
- 1915, W. Somerset Maugham, "", :-- "I suppose you wouldn't like to do a locum for a month on the South coast? Three guineas a week with board and lodging." -- "I wouldn't mind," said Philip. -- "It's at Farnley, in Dorsetshire. Doctor South. You'd have to go down at once; his assistant has developed mumps. I believe it's a very pleasant place." There was something in the secretary's manner that puzzled Philip. It was a little doubtful. -- "What's the crab in it?" he asked.
- 1940, ''Little tyrannies", by Horace Annesley VachellArrested by the low price of another “desirable residenceâ€, 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.
Derived terms
Related terms
Verb
- (intransitive) To fish for crabs.
- (transitive, US, slang) To ruin.
- 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin 2010, p. 224:‘Just so we understand each other,’ he said after a pause. ‘If you crab this case, you'll be in a jam.’
- (intransitive) To complain.
- (intransitive, nautical, aviation) To drift 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.
- (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.
- Wodehouse Offing|XV|“Nothing can possibly go wrong.†“Just as you say, sir. But I still have that feeling.†The blood of the Woosters is hot, and I was about to tell him in set terms what I thought of his bally feeling, when I suddenly spotted what it was that was making him crab the act.
Origin 2
Middle English crabbe, of Germanic origin, plausibly from Scandinavian, cognate with Swedish dialect scrabba
Noun
crab
(plural crabs)- The crab apple or wild apple.
- 1610, , by William Shakespeare, act 2 scene 2I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow;And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts;
- 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
Derived terms
Verb
- (obsolete) To irritate, make surly or sour
- To be ill-tempered; to complain or find fault.
- GlanvillSickness sours or crabs our nature.
- (British dialect) To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick
Origin 3
Possibly a corruption of the genus name
Origin 4
Alternation of carabiner