crab
IPA: krˈæb
noun
- A crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace.
- (uncountable) The meat of this crustacean, served as food; crabmeat.
- A bad-tempered person.
- (in plural crabs, informal) An infestation of pubic lice (Pthirus pubis).
- (uncountable, aviation) The angle by which an aircraft's nose is pointed upwind of its groundtrack to compensate for crosswinds during an approach to landing; its crab angle.
- (slang) A playing card with the rank of three.
- (rowing) 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.
- (dated) An unsold book that is returned to the publisher.
- The crab apple or wild apple.
- The 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.
- The tree species Carapa guianensis, native to South America.
- (informal) Short for carabiner. [A metal link with a gate that can open and close, generally used for clipping ropes to anchors or other objects.]
verb
- (intransitive) To fish for crabs.
- (transitive, US, slang) To ruin.
- (intransitive) To complain.
- (transitive) To complain about.
- (intransitive) 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.
- (transitive, aviation) To navigate (an aircraft, e.g. a glider) sideways against an air current in order to maintain a straight-line course.
- (transitive, film, television) To move (a camera) sideways.
- (obsolete, World War I), 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.
- (obsolete) To irritate, make surly or sour
- To be ill-tempered; to complain or find fault.
- (British dialect) To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick
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Examples of "crab" in Sentences
- The crab has a big claw.
- Crabs live under the sea.
- His handwriting is very much crabbed.
- The sailors caught crabs and dolphones.
- It was difficult to read the crabbed writings.
- The handwriting is described as small and crabbed.
- The crabbed handwriting was not enough for the teacher.
- The ship incorporated elements of a starfish and a crab.
- The horseshoe crab is an arthropod of the family Limulidae.
- Furiously, he throws the crab and the crab lands in the employer's hat.
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