crab
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Etymology 1
From Middle English crabbe, from Old English crabba.
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
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.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
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[edit] Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to crab (third-person singular simple present crabs, present participle crabbing, simple past and past participle crabbed)
- (intransitive) To fish for crabs.
- (intransitive) To complain.
- (intransitive) (by analogy with the movement of a crab) To move sideways of an aircraft, such as a glider.
- (transitive) (by analogy with the movement of a crab) To navigate (an aircraft, e.g. a glider) sideways against an air current in order to maintain a straight-line course.
- (obsolete) In World War 1, 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.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Etymology 2
Germanic: plausibly from Scandinavian, cognate with Swedish dialect scrabba
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
crab (plural crabs)
- The crab apple or wild apple.
- The tree bearing crab apples, which has a dogbane-like bitter bark with medical use.
[edit] Synonyms
- (crab apple): crab apple
- (tree): crab apple
[edit] Derived terms
- cherry crab
- Chinese crab
- crab apple, crab-apple, crabapple
- crab-bat
- crab-knob
- crab-staff
- crab-stick, crabstick
- crab-stock
- crab-tree
- garland crab
- Siberian crab
[edit] Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to crab (third-person singular simple present crabs, present participle crabbing, simple past and past participle crabbed)
- (obsolete) To irritate, make surly or sour
- To be ill-tempered
- (British dialect) To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick
[edit] Etymology 3
- possibly a corruption of the Latin genus name Carapa
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
crab (plural crabs)
- The tree species Carapa guianensis, native of South America.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] References
- Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523
- Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of the English Language. Internatinal Edition. combined with Britannica World Language Dictionary. Chicago-London etc., Encyclopaedia Britannica, inc., 1965.