crabbed

English

Etymology

From Middle English crabbed; equivalent to crab +‎ -ed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɹæbd/
• Rhymes: -æbd

Adjective

crabbed (comparative more crabbed, superlative most crabbed)

1. Bad-tempered or cantankerous.
   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III scene i^[1]:

     […] O, she is / Ten times more gentle than her father's crabb'd, / And he's composed of harshness.

2. Cramped, bent.
   • c. 1800 Robert Southey, Winter:

     A wrinkled crabbed man they picture thee,

     Old Winter, with a rugged beard as grey

     As the long moss upon the apple-tree; […]

3. (of handwriting) Crowded together and difficult to read.

Derived terms

• crabbedly
• crabbedness

Translations

bad-tempered or cantankerous

• Bulgarian: раздразнителен (bg) (razdraznitelen), свадлив (bg) (svadliv)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

(of handwriting) crowded together and difficult to read

• Bulgarian: неразбираем (bg) (nerazbiraem), нечетлив (bg) (nečetliv)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: неразбо́рчивый (ru) (nerazbórčivyj)

Verb

crabbed

1. simple past and past participle of crab

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• crabbid, crabbyd, crabbede

Etymology

From crabbe +‎ -ed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkrabid/, /ˈkrabɛd/

Adjective

crabbed

1. immoral, backwards, savage, rapacious
2. crabbed, ill-tempered, vengeful
3. (rare) Moving in reverse.

Derived terms

• crabbednes
• crabbidly

Descendants

• English: crabbed
• Scots: crabbit

References

• “crabbed (ppl.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-07.