crab.
Any crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace.
Meaning & usage
Any crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace.
The meat of this crustacean, served as food; crabmeat.
Various other animals that resemble true crabs: Any of various crustacean in the infraorder Anomura, usually excluding squat lobsters.
Despite its name, the hermit crab is not a true crab!
Various other animals that resemble true crabs: A horseshoe crab.
A bad-tempered person.
An infestation of pubic lice (Pthirus pubis).
Although crabs themselves are an easily treated inconvenience, the patient and his partner(s) clearly run major STD risks.
Ellipsis of crab angle.
The pilot had to hold fifteen degrees of crab during the approach to keep her plane from getting blown off the localizer course.
A playing card with the rank of three.
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.
An unsold book that is returned to the publisher.
On an insignia, a coat of arms symbol representing a senior rank.
A member of the Crips.
A pubic louse.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English crabbe, from Old English crabba (“crab; crayfish; cancer”), from Proto-West Germanic *krabbō, from Proto-Germanic *krabbô, from *krabbōną (“to scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *grobʰeh₂yéti (“to scratch”), a metathesised o-grade of *gerbʰ- (“to carve, scratch”). More at carve. Cognates See also Dutch krab, Low German Krabb, Danish krabbe, Swedish krabba. Further cognates with frequentative-infix are Saterland Frisian krabbelje (“to creep, crawl”), Dutch krabbelen (“to scratch”) and German krabbeln (“to crawl”). Possibly related to English creep and Swedish krypa (“to creep, crawl”) etc. Other origins have also been suggested, see Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabos) (regarding the possibility of a substrate origin) and Persian خرچنگ (regarding possible ideophonic origin); compare also Old Armenian քարբ (kʻarb), German Krebs.
To fish for crabs.
To ruin.
To complain.
To complain about.
To drift or move sideways or to leeward (by analogy with the movement of a crab).
To move in a manner that involves keeping low and clinging to surfaces.
To move (a camera) sideways.
To navigate (an aircraft, e.g. a glider) sideways against an air current in order to maintain a straight-line course.
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.
To back out of something.
To make a loud, rapid rattling sound when scared, stressed, or agitated.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English crabbe, from Old English crabba (“crab; crayfish; cancer”), from Proto-West Germanic *krabbō, from Proto-Germanic *krabbô, from *krabbōną (“to scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *grobʰeh₂yéti (“to scratch”), a metathesised o-grade of *gerbʰ- (“to carve, scratch”). More at carve. Cognates See also Dutch krab, Low German Krabb, Danish krabbe, Swedish krabba. Further cognates with frequentative-infix are Saterland Frisian krabbelje (“to creep, crawl”), Dutch krabbelen (“to scratch”) and German krabbeln (“to crawl”). Possibly related to English creep and Swedish krypa (“to creep, crawl”) etc. Other origins have also been suggested, see Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabos) (regarding the possibility of a substrate origin) and Persian خرچنگ (regarding possible ideophonic origin); compare also Old Armenian քարբ (kʻarb), German Krebs.
A crab apple or wild apple.
A 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.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English crabbe (“wild apple”), of Germanic origin, plausibly from North Germanic, cognate with Swedish dialect skrabba (“sour apple, apple cart”).
To irritate, make surly or sour
To be ill-tempered; to complain or find fault.
To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick
To offend or insult.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English crabbe (“wild apple”), of Germanic origin, plausibly from North Germanic, cognate with Swedish dialect skrabba (“sour apple, apple cart”).
The tree species Carapa guianensis, native to South America.
Where this word comes from
Possibly a corruption of the genus name Carapa
Clipping of carabiner, modified based on likening the shape of a carabiner to a crab's claw.
Where this word comes from
From carabiner.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.