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crab - What does it mean?

Definition of 'crab'

English

(wikipedia)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) crabbe, from (etyl)

Noun

(en-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.
  • *{{quote-book|year=1959|author=(Georgette Heyer)|title=(The Unknown Ajax)|chapter=1
    • |passage=But Richmond
  • A bad-tempered person.
  • .
  • (label) A playing card with the rank of three.
  • (label) 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.
  • * 1915 , , (Of Human Bondage) , :
    • -- "I suppose you wouldn't like to do a locum for a month on the South coast? Three guineas a week with board and lodging." -- "I wouldn't mind," said Philip. -- "It's at Farnley, in Dorsetshire. Doctor South. You'd have to go down at once; his assistant has developed mumps. I believe it's a very pleasant place." There was something in the secretary's manner that puzzled Philip. It was a little doubtful. -- "What's the crab in it?" he asked.
  • * 1940 , (Horace Annesley Vachell), Little Tyrannies
    • 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.
    Derived terms
    * Alaska crab, Alaska king crab, Alaskan king crab * arrow crab * black crab * blue crab * blue swimmer crab * box-crab * catch a crab * Chinese crab * Chinese mitten crab * Christmas Island red crab * circular crab * coconut crab * come off crabs * crabbed * crabber * crabbery * crabbing * crabbish * crabby * crab cactus * crab canon, crab-canon * crab-catcher * crab-claw * crab-eater * crab-eating (rel-mid4) * crab face, crab-face * crab-faced * crab-favored, crab-favoured * crab-farming * crab-fish * crab-grass, crabgrass * crab-harrow * crab-hole * crab-holed * crablet * crab-like, crablike * crabling * crab-lobster * crab louse, crab-louse * crab mentality * crabmeat * Crab Nebula * crabologist * crab-pot * crab-pot valve * crab rock * crab-roller * crab's claw * crab's eye, crab's-eye * crab-shell * crab-sidle * crab-snouted (rel-mid4) * crab spider, crab-spider * crab-step * crab stick * crab-stone * crab-weed * crabwise * crab yaws * cut a crab * Dungeness crab * fiddler crab * flower crab * ghost crab * green crab * halloween crab * hard-shell crab * hermit crab * horseshoe crab * Jonah crab * king crab, king-crab * lady crab * land crab, land-crab * mangrove crab * mantis crab * masked crab * mole crab * mud crab * nobody-crab (rel-mid4) * oyster crab * palm crab * pea crab, pea-crab * porcelain crab * purse crab * racing crab * river crab * robber-crab * rock crab * sand crab * sea-crab * sentinel crab * shame-faced crab * shore crab, shore-crab * soft-shell crab * soldier crab, soldier-crab * spider crab, spider-crab * stilt crab * stone crab * strawberry crab * Tasmanian giant crab * thumbnail crab * tree crab * turn out crabs * velvet crab * white crab (rel-bottom)
    Related terms
    * craber * crabier * crabite * crab-skuit * panier de crabes

    Verb

  • To fish for crabs.
  • (transitive|US|slang) To ruin.
  • * 1940 , (Raymond Chandler), Farewell, My Lovely , Penguin 2010, p. 224:
    • ‘Just so we understand each other,’ he said after a pause. ‘If you crab this case, you'll be in a jam.’
  • To complain.
  • (intransitive|nautical|aviation) To drift sideways or to leeward (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|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.
  • *
    • Derived terms
    * crabber * crabbing

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) crabbe, of Germanic origin, plausibly from Scandinavian, cognate with Swedish dialect scrabba

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • The crab apple or wild apple.
  • * 1610 , , act 2 scene 2
    • I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow;
    And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts;
  • 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.
    • (Garrick)
  • 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.
    • Synonyms
    * (crab apple) crab apple * (tree) crab apple
    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

    Verb

    (crabb)
  • (obsolete) To irritate, make surly or sour
  • To be ill-tempered; to complain or find fault.
  • * Glanvill
    • Sickness sours or crabs our nature.
  • (British dialect) To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick

    • Etymology 3

    Possibly a corruption of the genus name

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • The tree species , native of South America.
    • Derived terms
    * crab-nut * crab-oil

    Etymology 4

    Alternation of carabiner

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • Short for carabiner.

    • References

    * Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523 *

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    Similar to 'crab'

    carb, curb, crib, carob, corb, courb, coarb