SHRIMP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shrimp mean? 

• SHRIMP (noun)
  The noun SHRIMP has 3 senses:

1. disparaging terms for small people

2. any of various edible decapod crustaceans

3. small slender-bodied chiefly marine decapod crustaceans with a long tail and single pair of pincers; many species are edible

  Familiarity information: SHRIMP used as a noun is uncommon.

• SHRIMP (verb)
  The verb SHRIMP has 1 sense:

1. fish for shrimp

  Familiarity information: SHRIMP used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHRIMP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Disparaging terms for small people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

half-pint; peewee; runt; shrimp

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

small person (a person of below average size)

Derivation:

shrimpy ((used especially of persons) of inferior size)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of various edible decapod crustaceans

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

prawn; shrimp

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

seafood (edible fish (broadly including freshwater fish) or shellfish or roe etc)

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

river prawn (large Australian prawn)

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

shrimp (small slender-bodied chiefly marine decapod crustaceans with a long tail and single pair of pincers; many species are edible)

Holonyms ("shrimp" is a substance of...):

shrimp cocktail (a cocktail of cold cooked shrimp and a sauce)

Derivation:

shrimp (fish for shrimp)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Small slender-bodied chiefly marine decapod crustaceans with a long tail and single pair of pincers; many species are edible

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

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

Meronyms (parts of "shrimp"):

pleopod; swimmeret (one of the paired abdominal appendages of certain aquatic crustaceans that function primarily for carrying the eggs in females and are usually adapted for swimming)

prawn; shrimp (any of various edible decapod crustaceans)

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

pistol shrimp; snapping shrimp (small shrimp that makes a snapping noise with one of their enlarged chelae)

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

Crangonidae; family Crangonidae (shrimps)

Derivation:

shrimp (fish for shrimp)

• SHRIMP (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fish for shrimp

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

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

fish (catch or try to catch fish or shellfish)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

In the summer they like to go out and shrimp

Derivation:

shrimp (small slender-bodied chiefly marine decapod crustaceans with a long tail and single pair of pincers; many species are edible)

shrimp (any of various edible decapod crustaceans)

shrimper (a vessel engaged in shrimping)

 Context examples 

What a shrimp it is, to be sure!

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

"He was a little scholastic shrimp without a drop of red blood in his body."

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He wept; but so far recovered, almost immediately, as to ring the bell for the waiter, and bespeak a hot kidney pudding and a plate of shrimps for breakfast in the morning.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Most species are marine, including shrimps and barnacles.

(Crustacean, NCI Thesaurus)

Mantis shrimp eyes have stereoscopic vision and possess a band of photoreceptors that can distinguish up to 12 different wavelengths and linear and circular polarized light.

(How mantis shrimp make sense of the world, National Science Foundation)

The hard outer shell of shrimp, lobsters, and many insects is made of chitin.

(Chitin, NCI Dictionary)

Low mercury fish include salmon, shrimp, pollock, canned light tuna, tilapia, catfish, and cod.

(Brain benefits of aerobic exercise lost to mercury exposure, NIH)

The technology mixes chitosan —a natural polymer extracted from the shell of crustaceans such as shrimp, lobsters, and crabs— with quaternary ammonium salts, chemical compounds that have antimicrobial properties and are commonly used in controlled concentrations in food industries and as domestic sanitisers.

(Protective bio-shell could extend egg shelf life, SciDev.Net)

This loss of oxygen can cause the loss of fish habitat or force them to move to other areas to survive, decreased reproductive capabilities in fish species and a reduction in the average size of shrimp caught.

(Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ is the largest ever measured, NOAA)

Threatened social interest species include a number of stingless bees (known locally as uruçu, mandaçaia, and jandaíra), swamp ghost crabs, blue land crabs, a freshwater shrimp locally known as pitu, mangrove root crabs, catfish, yellowmouth groupers, jewfish, hammerhead sharks, among others.

(Over 300 animal species threatened in Bahia, Agência Brasil)