crab

1. 1

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

2. 2

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

   • But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw[…]that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.
3. 3

   Various other animals that resemble true crabs:; Any of various crustacean in the infraorder Anomura, usually excluding squat lobsters.countableuncountable

   • Despite its name, the hermit crab is not a true crab!
4. 4

   Various other animals that resemble true crabs:; A horseshoe crab.countableuncountable

5. 5

   A bad-tempered person.countableuncountable

   • She so obviously enjoyed every second of the concert that only the most stubborn crab could not have been warmed by her charm.
6. 6

   An infestation of pubic lice (Pthirus pubis).countableinformaluncountable

   • Although crabs themselves are an easily treated inconvenience, the patient and his partner(s) clearly run major STD risks.
7. 7

   Ellipsis of crab angle.abbreviationalt-ofellipsis

   • The pilot had to hold fifteen degrees of crab during the approach to keep her plane from getting blown off the localizer course.
8. 8

   A playing card with the rank of three.countableslanguncountable

9. 9

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

10. 10

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

    • Arrested by the low price of another “desirable residence”, 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.

1. 1

   To fish for crabs.intransitive

2. 2

   To ruin.USslangtransitive

   • I thought at the time that that little speech meant a savin' of eight dollars,[…] But the Missus crabbed it a few minutes after her and Bess come in the room.
   • ‘Just so we understand each other,’ he said after a pause. ‘If you crab this case, you'll be in a jam.’
3. 3

   To complain.intransitive

   • “The thing to do is to forget about the heat,” said Tom impatiently. “You make it ten times worse by crabbing about it.”
   • And if we do have to walk, I don't want to have to listen to you crabbing at me, Tad Trenton.
4. 4

   To complain about.transitive

   • Well, because of this state of things they crabbed his scheme from the first, ridiculed it, wrote against it, spread broadcast a feeling of distrust.
5. 5

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

   • Mutt stalked forward, matching him, step for step, crabbing sideways the way wolves do when they're going for the kill.
   • The aircraft crabbed sideways in the cross-winds and leveled to horizontal.
6. 6

   To move in a manner that involves keeping low and clinging to surfaces.

   • Time slowed down then, became liquid in the aftermath of his grotesque, unfolding limbs; he crabbed his way down the faded line, rocking back and forth in braces he would use all his life.
   • Foot by foot, he crabbed his way down another ninety feet of rock chimney until he stood on solid ground again, still very much alive.
7. 7

   To move (a camera) sideways.transitive

   • If panning is not easy to make seem natural, crabbing the camera is even less like any action we perform with our eyes in the real world. There are a few circumstances in which we walk sideways: […]
8. 8

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

9. 9

   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.World-War-Iobsolete

10. 10

    To back out of something.rare

    • “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

1. 1

   A crab apple or wild apple.

   • I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow; And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts;
   • Just as by cultivation the acrid wild crab has been developed into the beautiful and luscious apple, may the unripe, ill-fed, neglected wild fruits of the fields and slums be developed into pure and noble and beautiful men and women.
2. 2

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

3. 3

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

   • She swore to such things , that I could do nothing but swear and call names : upon which out bolts her husband upon me , with a fine taper crab in his hand and fell upon me with such violence , that , being half delirious , I made a full co
4. 4

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

5. 5

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

6. 6

   A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn.

7. 7

   A claw for anchoring a portable machine.

syn. crab apple

1. 1

   To irritate, make surly or sourobsolete

2. 2

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

3. 3

   To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstickBritishdialectal

   • Get you to bed, drab, courage Or l'll so crab your shoulders!
   • I was on a horse named The Skipper, a perfect terror to ride when he was in a bad humour, which he invariably was; nevertheless he was a splendid hunter and I never crabbed him.
4. 4

   To offend or insult.obsoletetransitive

   • If I think one thing and speak another, / I will both crab Christ and our Ladie His mother.

1. 1

   The tree species Carapa guianensis, native to South America.

1. 1

   Clipping of carabiner, modified based on likening the shape of a carabiner to a crab's claw.abbreviationalt-ofclipping