CRAB (crabbed, crabbing)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: crabbed    , crabbing   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Crab mean? 

• CRAB (noun)
  The noun CRAB has 7 senses:

1. decapod having eyes on short stalks and a broad flattened carapace with a small abdomen folded under the thorax and pincers

2. a quarrelsome grouch

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

4. the fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22

5. the edible flesh of any of various crabs

6. a louse that infests the pubic region of the human body

7. a stroke of the oar that either misses the water or digs too deeply

  Familiarity information: CRAB used as a noun is common.

• CRAB (verb)
  The verb CRAB has 4 senses:

1. direct (an aircraft) into a crosswind

2. scurry sideways like a crab

3. fish for crab

4. complain

  Familiarity information: CRAB used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRAB (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Decapod having eyes on short stalks and a broad flattened carapace with a small abdomen folded under the thorax and pincers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("crab" is a kind of...):

decapod; decapod crustacean (crustaceans characteristically having five pairs of locomotor appendages each joined to a segment of the thorax)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crab"):

Menippe mercenaria; stone crab (large edible crab of the southern coast of the United States (particularly Florida))

spider crab (any of numerous crabs with very long legs and small triangular bodies)

Alaska crab; Alaska king crab; Alaskan king crab; king crab; Paralithodes camtschatica (large edible crab of northern Pacific waters especially along the coasts of Alaska and Japan)

pea crab (tiny soft-bodied crab living commensally in the mantles of certain bivalve mollusks)

fiddler crab (burrowing crab of American coastal regions having one claw much enlarged in the male)

swimming crab (marine crab with some legs flattened and fringed for swimming)

Cancer borealis; Jonah crab (large red deep-water crab of the eastern coast of North America)

Cancer irroratus; rock crab (crab of eastern coast of North America)

Cancer magister; Dungeness crab (small edible crab of Pacific coast of North America)

soft-shell crab; soft-shelled crab (edible crab that has recently molted and not yet formed its new shell)

hard-shell crab (edible crab that has not recently molted and so has a hard shell)

Holonyms ("crab" is a member of...):

Brachyura; suborder Brachyura (an order of crustaceans (including true crabs) having a reduced abdomen folded against the ventral surface)

Derivation:

crab (fish for crab)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A quarrelsome grouch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

crab; crabby person

Hypernyms ("crab" is a kind of...):

churl; crank; crosspatch; grouch; grump (a bad-tempered person)

Derivation:

crab (complain)

crabby (annoyed and irritable)

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Cancer; Crab

Hypernyms ("Crab" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Domain category:

astrology; star divination (a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon)

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Cancer; Cancer the Crab; Crab

Instance hypernyms:

house; mansion; planetary house; sign; sign of the zodiac; star sign ((astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The edible flesh of any of various crabs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

crab; crabmeat

Hypernyms ("crab" is a kind of...):

shellfish (meat of edible aquatic invertebrate with a shell (especially a mollusk or crustacean))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crab"):

blue crab (Atlantic crab; most common source of fresh crabmeat)

crab legs (legs of especially Alaska king crabs)

soft-shell crab; soft-shelled crab (freshly molted crab with new shell still tender and flexible)

Japanese crab (crabmeat usually canned; from Japan)

Alaska crab; Alaska king crab; Alaskan king crab; king crab (meat of large cold-water crab; mainly leg meat)

Dungeness crab (flesh of Cancer magister (Dungeness crab))

stone crab (pale flesh with delicate texture and flavor; found in Florida but now very rare)

Holonyms ("crab" is a part of...):

crab cocktail (a cocktail of cold cooked crabmeat and a sauce)

Derivation:

crab (fish for crab)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A louse that infests the pubic region of the human body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

crab; crab louse; Phthirius pubis; pubic louse

Hypernyms ("crab" is a kind of...):

louse; sucking louse (wingless usually flattened bloodsucking insect parasitic on warm-blooded animals)

Holonyms ("crab" is a member of...):

genus Phthirius; genus Phthirus; Phthirius; Phthirus (true lice: crab lice)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A stroke of the oar that either misses the water or digs too deeply

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he caught a crab and lost the race

Hypernyms ("crab" is a kind of...):

row; rowing (the act of rowing as a sport)

• CRAB (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they crab    ... he / she / it crabs   
Past simple: crabbed   
Past participle: crabbed   
-ing form: crabbing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Direct (an aircraft) into a crosswind

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "crab" is one way to...):

channelise; channelize; direct; guide; head; maneuver; manoeuver; manoeuvre; point; steer (direct the course; determine the direction of travelling)

Domain category:

air; air travel; aviation (travel via aircraft)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Scurry sideways like a crab

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "crab" is one way to...):

scamper; scurry; scuttle; skitter (to move about or proceed hurriedly)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fish for crab

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "crab" is one way to...):

fish (catch or try to catch fish or shellfish)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

In the summer they like to go out and crab

Derivation:

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

crab (the edible flesh of any of various crabs)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Complain

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

What was he hollering about?

Hypernyms (to "crab" is one way to...):

complain; kick; kvetch; plain; quetch; sound off (express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

crab (a quarrelsome grouch)

 Context examples 

Now, Charlie, whom have we upon the list who can beat Crab Wilson, of Gloucester?

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is, especially such a language as this crabbed but glorious Deutsch.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The parasite, also known as crab lice, is transmitted through skin to skin contact with an infected person or through direct contact with infested objects.

(Pediculosis Pubis, NCI Thesaurus)

I see that your squire's eyes are starting from his head like a trussed crab.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In patchy doses in the open ocean, Sargassum contributes to ocean health by providing habitat for turtles, crabs, fish, and birds and, like other plants, producing oxygen via photosynthesis.

(Satellites Find Biggest Seaweed Bloom in the World, NASA)

Mr. Peggotty, to relieve it, took two prodigious lobsters, and an enormous crab, and a large canvas bag of shrimps, out of his pockets, and piled them up in Ham's arms.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are found in seafood, including fatty fish (such as salmon, tuna, and trout) and shellfish (such as crab, mussels, and oysters).

(Omega-3s linked with lower risk of fatal heart attacks, NIH)

The found that Cas A appears to have more phosphorus than Crab Nebula.

(Finding Alien Life Unlikely Due to Lack of Phosphorus in Universe, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

I always liked McArdle, the crabbed, old, round-backed, red-headed news editor, and I rather hoped that he liked me.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But Godfrey was the heir to this crabbed old nobleman, and it was quite certain that the news of his marriage would have been the end of his inheritance.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)