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单词 crab
释义

crabn.1

Brit. /krab/, U.S. /kræb/
Forms: Old English crabba, plural -an, Middle English–1500s crabbe, Middle English plural -en, (Middle English crabe), Middle English– crab.
Etymology: Old English crabba = Old Norse krabbi (masculine), Middle Low German krabbe , Middle Dutch crabbe , Dutch krabbe , krab , feminine (Thence French crabe 13th cent., in 16th cent. also crabbe ). Allied etymologically to Middle Low German krēvet , Middle Dutch creeft , Dutch kreeft < Old Low German type *kreƀit , *kreƀato , Old High German chrebiȥ, chrebaȥo , Middle High German kreb(e)ȥ , kreb(e)ȥe , German krebs (whence French écrevisse , English crayfish n.). (In no way related to Latin carabus , Greek κάραβος , but to Low German krabben to scratch, claw: see crab v.2 and crawl n.1)
1. The common name for decapod crustaceous animals of the tribe Brachyura; applied especially to the edible species found on or near the sea coast in most regions of the world. Also with qualifications applied to other Crustacea and Arachnida which more or less resemble these.The common edible crab of Britain and Europe is Cancer pagurus; the small green crab, or shore crab is Carcinus Mænas; blue crab: see the first element. Other genera of Brachyura are known as box-crab, calling-crab, fiddler-crab, lady-crab, land-crab (land-crab n.), pea-crab, porcelain-crab, rock-crab, sand-crab, spider-crab (spider-crab n.), stone-crab, swimming-crab, etc. black crab, a land-crab of the Antilles, Gecarcinus ruricola, so called from the marking of its carapace. The hermit-crab, palm-crab, soldier-crab (soldier-crab n.), tree-crab, belong to the tribe Anomoura. The horseshoe-crab, Molucca-crab, or king-crab (king crab n.) is classed among the Arachnida. The glass-crab is a young transparent crustacean of the families Palinuridæ and Scyllaridæ. Crabs can move in any direction, and frequently walk sideways or backwards, to which characteristic frequent reference is made in language: cf. crab-like adj. and adv., crab-sidle v., also crabbed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > [noun] > member of
crabc1000
crab-fisha1400
crayfish1509
insect1601
many-foot1601
insectile1615
condylope1835
condylopod1855
arthropod1861
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > crab
crabc1000
partan1428
punger1586
red crab1825
fiddle-fish1867
partan-crab1893
muddy1953
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab)
crabc1000
crab-fisha1400
cancer?a1425
partan1428
crayfish1509
canker1562
rock crab1736
fiery-tangs1813
cancroid1852
brachyuran1877
partan-crab1893
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 94 Hwæt fehst ðu on sæ?..ostran and crabban.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 51 Crabbe is an manere of fissce in þere sea.
c1300 K. Alis. 4943 After crabben and airen hy skippen and lepeth.
c1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 600 Breke þe clawes of þe crabbe, þe smalle & þe grete.
1483 Cath. Angl. 79 A Crab, piscis est.
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. lxxxiiii One crab blamys another for hir backwarde pace And yet the blamer sothly can none other do.
1579 T. Stevens Let. 10 Nov. in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) i. 162 We sawe crabs swimming on the water that were red as though they had been sodden.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 206 Your selfe shalbe olde as I am, If like a Crabbe, you could goe backeward.
1674 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 105 Spanish Crab..Cancer maias. Besides all these we observed two other sorts of small Crabs.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. iii. 423 Cancer Ruricolus... The Black or Mountain-Crab. These creatures are very numerous in some parts of Jamaica.
1834 H. McMurtrie tr. G. Cuvier Animal Kingdom (abridged ed.) 318 They run swiftly, and frequently retrograde or move sideways like Crabs.
1859 C. Kingsley Glaucus (ed. 4) 77 The soldier crab is the most hasty and blundering of marine animals.
1880 S. Haughton Six Lect. Physical Geogr. vi. 262 The King Crabs are a very peculiar family of Crustaceans.
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 215 Black crabs abound in the Palisades and are very fierce.
2. Astronomy.
a. A zodiacal constellation, lying between Gemini and Leo. Also the fourth of the twelve divisions of the Zodiac, which originally coincided with the constellation; = cancer n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > constellation > zodiacal constellation > [noun] > Cancer
crabc1000
cancerc1392
the world > the universe > celestial sphere > zone of celestial sphere > particular signs > [noun] > Cancer
cankerOE
crabc1000
cancerc1392
tropicc1400
c1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 244 An þæra tacna ys gehaten aries þæt is ramm..Feorða cancer þæt is crabba.
1413 J. Lydgate Pilgr. of Sowle (1483) v. xiii. 104 The sonne entred the signe of Cancer which is cleped the Crabbe.
1517 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (new ed.) i. i When Phebus entred was in Geminy..And horned Dyane then but one degre In the Crabbe had entred.
1601 J. Weever Mirror of Martyrs sig. Cijv Mars loaths the crab, he's in the lions den.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 675 Up to the Tropic Crab . View more context for this quotation
1759 S. Johnson Prince of Abissinia II. xl. 106 I have restrained the rage of the dog-star, and mitigated the fervours of the crab.
1866 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin Heavens ii. i. xi. 372 The next group is situated in the Crab, and is known by the name of Præsepe.
b. Name of a nebula or star-cluster in Taurus.
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the world > the universe > constellation > nebula > [noun] > planetary nebula
dumb-bell nebula184.
crab1868
planetary1903
reflection nebula1936
1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. 30 The Dumb-Bell cluster in Vulpecula and the Crab cluster in Taurus..have been resolved into stars.
1890 C. A. Young Uranogr. §23 The so-called ‘Crab Nebula’.
†3. A malignant growth; = cancer n. 3. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > growth or excrescence > [noun] > tumour > malignant tumours
cancer1527
carcinoma1583
crab1614
scirrhus1759
sarcoma1804
malignant melanoma1838
melanocarcinoma1857
adenosarcoma1871
adenocarcinoma1872
angiosarcoma1873
lymphosarcoma1874
mycosis fungoides1874
melanosarcoma1875
osteosarcoma1876
chondrosarcoma1883
psammosarcoma1886
trophoblast1889
liposarcoma1893
multiple myeloma1897
sarcoid1899
leiomyosarcoma1914
spongioblastoma1918
osteogenic sarcoma1923
sympathicoblastoma1927
reticulosarcoma1928
carcinoma in situ1932
malignancy1934
teratocarcinoma1946
sympathoblastoma1960
sympathogonioma1966
sympathicogonioma1974
1614 W. B. in tr. Philosophers Banquet (ed. 2) Pref. 1 The Crabbe, the Gangrene, or the Stone.
4. Short for crab-louse n.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > group Anoplura > order Siphunculata > member of genus Pediculus (louse) > pediculus pubis (crab-louse)
partnit1530
crab-louse1547
morpion1612
crab1840
1840 E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 488 The..crabs or crab-lice, form Dr. Leach's genus Phtheirius.
a1967 J. R. Ackerley My Father & Myself (1968) xii. 139 I kept a stock of Blue Ointment handy for the elimination of crabs.
1970 Observer 12 Apr. (Colour Suppl.) 43 Green wings means someone's got gonorrhoea, and yellow wings for something else, like crabs.
5. Angling. The larva of the Stone-fly.
ΚΠ
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling vii. 232 The crab or creeper is the larva of the stone fly.
†6. An arch. [rare, only transl. medieval Latin cancer in same sense.]
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [noun] > other types of arch
bowOE
craba1387
cove1511
triumphal arch (arc)a1566
straight arch1663
pointed arch1688
rough arch1693
jack-arch1700
oxi1700
raking arch1711
flat arch1715
scheme-arch1725
counter-arch1726
ox-eye arch1736
surbased dome1763
ogee1800
rising arch1809
sub-arch1811
deaf arch1815
four-centred arch1815
mixed arch1815
Tudor arch1815
camber1823
lancet arch1823
invert1827
platband1828
pier arch1835
ogive1841
scoinson arch1842
segment1845
skew arch1845
drop-arch1848
equilateral arch1848
lancet1848
rear arch1848
straining-arch1848
tierceron1851
shouldered arch1853
archlet1862
segment-arch1887
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 221 Þis work is isett upon sixe crabbes [L. super sex cancros] of hard marbilston.
7. A machine or apparatus for hoisting or hauling heavy weights: the name being originally applied to a machine with claws, and transferred to others of like use.
Thesaurus »
a. A kind of small capstan (see quot. 1764); a portable capstan.
Thesaurus »
†b. A three-legged frame with tackle for raising heavy weights; a gin. Obsolete.
c. A portable machine for raising weights, etc., consisting of a frame with a horizontal barrel on which a chain or rope is wound by means of handles and gearing; used in connection with pulleys, a gin, etc.: a portable winch.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > lifting or hoisting equipment > [noun] > others
polancre1356
spindle1398
wrest1584
handscrew?1660
sea-crab1689
lewis1743
crab1753
wheel and axle (also axis)1773
tippler1831
fall1834
outrigger hoist1835
lewisson1842
power hoist1869
tipper1870
lifting screw1885
powerlifter1909
bucket chain1911
bracket-crab-
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. i. 2 A crab..is an engine of wood of three clawes, placed on the ground in the nature of a Capsterne, for the lanching of ships.
1631 E. Pellham Gods Power 16 A Halser thereupon we got, which fastning unto our Shallops, wee, with a Crabbe or Capstang, by maine force of hand heaved them out of the water upon the shoare.
1739 C. Labelye Short Acct. Piers Westm. Bridge 36 The Masons placed their Crab or Engine, with which they hoisted their Stone.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Crab or Gin..an engine used for mounting guns on their carriages. It is made of three pieces of oak, ash, or other strong wood, of about 14 feet long, two of which are joined by transomes; so that they are wide asunder at bottom, and join at top, on a strong piece of wood..The third piece of the crab is round; one end of it goes into the head, and the other stands on the ground; so that all three make a triangle called the pye.
1764 T. H. Croker et al. Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. I Crab..This machine differs from a capstern in having no drum-head, and in having the bars to go entirely through it, and reach from one side of the deck to the other.
1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 220 Hauled the vessel upon the dry land, by means of a crab, or small capstan.
1849 G. C. Greenwell Gloss. Terms Coal Trade Northumberland & Durham 17 Crab, a species of capstan, worked usually by horses, for the purpose of raising or lowering heavy weights, such as pumps, spears, &c., in a shaft.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxix. 402 Brooks has rigged a crab or capstan on the floe.
1862 S. Smiles Lives Engineers II. 221 On the truck were placed two powerful double-purchase crabs or windlasses.
d. The lifting-gear of a crane, travelling on rails and moving the load.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > lifting or hoisting equipment > [noun] > crane > parts of
crane-line1466
ram's head1611
crane-wheel1669
ram-head1686
gibbet1730
calliper1765
jib1765
outrigger1835
clutch1874
crab1874
gabbard1952
spreader1957
lifting beam1963
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 644/1 One form of traversing-crane consists of a crab upon a carriage traveling upon rails on the beams overhead in a foundry.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 10 June 10/1 The total weight of the crane..is 474 ¼ tons. The crab contains the whole of the mechanism for lifting and traversing, the speed of the traverse being about 26 ft. per minute.
1935 Chambers's Encycl. III. 540/2 The overhead traveller in a workshop or factory is a non-revolving crane; its essential parts are the main cross girders, the crab which moves to and fro along the cross girders on rails supported by them... The crab can..lift and shift the load from one part to any other part of the shop.
8. ‘An iron trivet to set over a fire, Cheshire’ (Halliwell).A cross ill-conditioned person: see crab n.2 6.
9. plural. slang. The lowest throw at hazard, two aces. to come off, turn out crabs: to turn out a failure or disappointment. [This may belong to crab n.2 ]
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > dice-playing > [noun] > hazard > type of throw
sevenc1405
nicka1635
seven and eleven1684
crabs1768
1768 Earl of Carlisle Let. 9 Jan. in J. H. Jesse G. Selwyn & his Contemp. (1843) II. 238 (Farmer) If you..will play, the best thing I can wish you is, that you may win and never throw crabs.
1777 Gamblers 7 Then Hazard rose, and Crabs and Doctors sprung.
1801 Sporting Mag. 17 7 Dreamt that I had thrown crabs all night, and could not nick seven for the life of me.
1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Tilbury Nogo 51 My next neighbour..called for fresh dice, and selected two of them with the utmost care only to throw ‘crabs’.
1874 G. A. Lawrence Hagarene iii (Farmer) My annuity drops with me; and if this throw comes off crabs, there won't be enough to bury me, unless I die a defaulter.
10. Rowing. to catch (rarely cut) a crab: to make a faulty stroke in rowing whereby the oar becomes jammed under water. The resistance of the water against the blade drives the handle against the rower's body with sufficient force (if the boat be in rapid motion) to throw him back out of his seat, and to endanger the capsizing of the boat.
The phrase is not uncommonly applied, from similarity of result, to the action of missing the water with the stroke, or to any other action which causes the rower to fall backward; but this (though found in Dictionaries from Grose onward) is an improper use by the uninitiated.The phrase probably originated in the humorous suggestion that the rower had caught a crab, which was holding his oar down under water; it does not appear to have any historical connection with the Italian pigliare un granchio ‘to catch a crab’, to make a big blunder or complete mistake, ‘toto cælo errare’; all the quots. given by Manuzzi for this phrase are figurative, of conduct, action, etc., e.g. ‘In nessun’ altra cosa l'uom più erra, piglia piu granchi, e fa maggior marroni, che nella cosa della guerra’ (i.e. In no other thing does man err more, catch more crabs, and make greater blunders [literally spades], than in the matter of war).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > propelling boat by oars, paddle, or pole > [verb (intransitive)] > row > make stroke with oar > make faulty stroke
to catch (rarely cut) a crab1785
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue at Crab To catch a crab, to fall backwards by missing one's stroke in rowing.
1804 Sporting Mag. 23 262 Catching crabs, that is, missing the hold they intend to take of the water with their oar.
1806 C. Wilson Specif. Patent 2964 4 It will clear itself of the water, so as the most inexperienced man can never what is technically called catch a crab, or impede the boat's motion by a resistance against the water in rowing.
1860 G. S. Nares Naval Cadet's Guide 98 When laying on your oars under sail, what should be done with them? Always fling them out of the rowlocks and let them rest abaft in the gunwale. If they were left in the rowlocks and the loom of the oar were not kept..down, it would ‘catch a crab’.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. i. 17 I have been down the river..with some other freshmen..though we bungle and cut crabs desperately at present.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Catch a crab, in rowing, when an oar gets so far beneath the surface of the water, that the rower cannot recover it in time to prevent his being knocked backwards.
1880 Times 27 Sept. 11/3 A boat upset.. because one of the rowers caught a ‘crab’.
11. [After German krebs crab, unsold copy of a book.] A book returned unsold by a bookseller to the publisher.
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society > communication > book > kind of book > books as sold > [noun] > worst-seller or slow-seller
remainder1757
rum1760
remainder book1858
plug1890
crab1896
worst-seller1903
1896 Bookseller 6 Mar. 278/1 The great bulk of the bookselling business [in Germany] with the publishers, is done by the ‘on sale’ system... These methods seem to work well in Germany, and the number of ‘crabs’, or books returned at the end of the year, is not often very great.
1960 G. A. Glaister Gloss. Bk. 90/1 Crabs, a colloquialism for copies of a book returned by the bookseller to the publisher.
12. Nautical slang. A midshipman, esp. a junior midshipman or naval cadet.
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society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > leader or commander > [noun] > naval officer > midshipman > junior
crab1916
wart1916
wonk1929
1916 Chambers's Jrnl. July 435/1 The sub, assisted by the senior ‘snotties’, had drilled the Crabs into a high state of discipline and efficiency.
1916 ‘Taffrail’ Carry On! 43 To the senior Sub-Lieutenant..the newly joined Midshipmen are ‘crabs’ or ‘warts’, mere excrescences on the face of the earth.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
a.
(a)
crab-computing adj.
ΚΠ
1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 487 E'en Leeuwenhoek himself would stand aghast..And own his crab-computing powers o'ercome.
crab-favoured adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > types of face > [adjective]
flatc1400
hardc1400
low-cheeredc1400
large?a1425
ruscledc1440
well-visagedc1440
platter-faced1533
well-faced1534
full-faced1543
fair-faced1553
bright-faceda1560
crab-faced1563
crab-snouted1563
crab-tree-faced1563
long-visaged1584
owlya1586
wainscot-faced1588
flaberkin1592
rough-hewn1593
angel-faced1594
round-faced1594
crab-favoured1596
rugged1596
weasel-faced1596
rough-faced1598
half-faced1600
chitty1601
lenten-faced1604
broad-faced1607
dog-faced1607
weaselled-faced1607
wry-faced1607
maid-faced1610
warp-faced1611
ill-faceda1616
lean-faceda1616
old-faceda1616
moon-faced1619
monkey-faced1620
chitty-face1622
chitty-faceda1627
lean-chapt1629
antic-faced1635
bloat-faced1638
bacon-facea1640
blue-faced1640
hatchet-faced1648
grave1650
lean-jawed1679
smock-faced1684
lean-visaged1686
flaber1687
baby-faced1692
splatter-faced1707
chubby1722
puggy1722
block-faced1751
haggard-looking1756
long-faced1762
haggardly1763
fresh-faced1766
dough-faced1773
pudding-faced1777
baby-featured1780
fat-faced1782
haggard1787
weazen-face1794
keen1798
ferret-like1801
lean-cheeked1812
mulberry-faced1812
open-faced1813
open-countenanced1819
chiselled1821
hatchety1821
misfeatured1822
terse1824
weazen-faced1824
mahogany-faced1825
clock-faced1827
sharp1832
sensual1833
beef-faced1838
weaselly1838
ferret-faced1840
sensuous1843
rat-faced1844
recedent1849
neat-faced1850
cherubimical1854
pinch-faced1859
cherubic1860
frownya1861
receding1866
weak1882
misfeaturing1885
platopic1885
platyopic1885
pro-opic1885
wind-splitting1890
falcon-face1891
blunt-featured1916
bun-faced1927
fish-faced1963
1596 J. Harington Anat. Metamorph. Aiax Pref. (1814) 9 Being invited by a crab-favoured host to a neat house.
(b)
crab-fishing n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing for type of fish > [noun] > for crabs
crabbing1657
crab-fishing1888
crab-potting1891
1888 Times 3 Jan. 10/2 Lobster and crab fishing.
crab-gauge n.
ΚΠ
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. p. lxxxiii Patented aquaria..and crab and lobster gauges.
1970 C. White How to catch Crabs (1998) 49 A convenient method of checking your catch is to cut out a crab gauge from a piece of plywood with the inside measurement just at the legal size.
crab-racing n.
ΚΠ
1882 Society 7 Oct. 5/1 One of the latest forms of amusement at French and Belgian seaside resorts is ‘crab-racing’.
crab-trap n.
ΚΠ
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 7 Crab and Lobster Trap.
b. (In sense 7.)
crab-capstan n.
ΚΠ
1839 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. ix. 194 The crab capstan is used to raise and lower, with few men, considerable weights, to get guns, &c. up precipitous ascents, ramps, &c.
crab-engine n.
ΚΠ
1838 F. W. Simms Public Wks. Great Brit. ii. 22 An ordinary crab engine was employed in driving the piles.
crab-winch n.
ΚΠ
1877 Daily News 10 Oct. 6/2 The upper bolts of chain sheaves, crab winch, &c., had leaked a little at first.
crab-windlass n.
ΚΠ
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 219 Crab-windlass, a light windlass for barges.
1900 J. Slocum Sailing Alone around World viii. 108 On that little crab-windlass I worked the rest of the night.
C2.
crab-canon n. Music = cancrizans adj.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > piece in specific form > [noun] > canon > types of
round1776
circular canon1869
crab-canon1908
cancrizans1926
1908 Strand Mag. Jan. 30/2 Canons, so constructed that they would read the same backwards or forwards. For this reason they were called Crab Canons.
1959 Collins Mus. Encycl. 109/2 Crab canon (canon cancrizans) or retrograde canon. The part which imitates is written backwards, beginning with the end. Crab canon by inversion: the part which imitates is written backwards and upside down.
crab-claw n. a claw or clutch for grappling or fastening.
ΚΠ
1694 Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) i. 107 And instead of Anchors, they have wooden Crab-claws, or Kellocks.
crab-eating adj. that feeds on crabs (sometimes rendering Latin cancrivorus).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by eating habits > [adjective] > carnivorous > feeding on crabs
crab-eating1812
1812 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. i. 71 Crab-eating kingfisher.
1847 W. B. Carpenter Zool.: Systematic Acct. I. §309 The Crab-eating Opossum is common in Guiana and Brazil, it..prefers marshy situations, where it feeds on crabs.
1883 List Vertebrated Animals Gardens Zool. Soc. (ed. 8) 82 Procyon cancrivorus, crab-eating raccoon.
1883 List Vertebrated Animals Gardens Zool. Soc. (ed. 8) 193 Didelphys cancrivora, crab-eating opossum.
1895 tr. R. Schmidtlein Brehm's Life Animals 594/2 The Crab-eating Opossum has a wide geographical range, extending perhaps throughout all of tropical America.
1900 Daily News 28 Nov. 7/2 A crab-eating racoon from South America.
1905 Westm. Gaz. 27 Dec. 10/2 A crab-eating opossum.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 6 June 10/2 Stones are always met with in the stomachs of two species of Antarctic seals. The Crab-eating seal is one of these..swallowing them to act as grindstones, whereby the hard shells of the crabs may be properly broken up.
1932 S. Zuckerman Social Life Monkeys & Apes vi. 89 The length of the cycle in the common or crab-eating macaque is approximately the same as in other macaques.
1954 G. Durrell Three Singles to Adventure vii. 156 It was a broad, flat head with neat rounded ears and a dog-like muzzle. The creature's colouring was ash grey, but across the eyes was a wide black band... ‘A crab-eating raccoon.’
1966 R. Morris & D. Morris Men & Apes i. 20 Crab-eating macaques in Bali are apparently treated with as much deference as the sacred monkeys of India.
† crab face n. Obsolete an ugly ill-tempered looking face (cf. Sc. partan face, used by the fisher folk: in later use apparently associated with crab n.2, cf. crab-tree-faced adj. at crab-tree n. Compounds 2, sour-faced adj. at sour adj. and n.1 Compounds 1a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > types of face > [noun]
muskin1530
vizard1568
monkey-face?1589
chitty-face1601
angel face1605
smock-face1605
fish-facea1625
platter face1631
ammunition face1649
horn-facea1668
baby facea1684
crab face1706
hatchet face1707
splatter-face1707
paddock-face1724
pudding face1748
dough face1755
Madonna face1790
company face1798
moon-face1822
pug-facea1845
puss1844
frog-face1872
bun-face1913
bitch face1969
1706 in H. Playford Wit & Mirth (new ed.) IV. 116 Viewing his crab face.
crab-faced adj. having a crab face.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > types of face > [adjective]
flatc1400
hardc1400
low-cheeredc1400
large?a1425
ruscledc1440
well-visagedc1440
platter-faced1533
well-faced1534
full-faced1543
fair-faced1553
bright-faceda1560
crab-faced1563
crab-snouted1563
crab-tree-faced1563
long-visaged1584
owlya1586
wainscot-faced1588
flaberkin1592
rough-hewn1593
angel-faced1594
round-faced1594
crab-favoured1596
rugged1596
weasel-faced1596
rough-faced1598
half-faced1600
chitty1601
lenten-faced1604
broad-faced1607
dog-faced1607
weaselled-faced1607
wry-faced1607
maid-faced1610
warp-faced1611
ill-faceda1616
lean-faceda1616
old-faceda1616
moon-faced1619
monkey-faced1620
chitty-face1622
chitty-faceda1627
lean-chapt1629
antic-faced1635
bloat-faced1638
bacon-facea1640
blue-faced1640
hatchet-faced1648
grave1650
lean-jawed1679
smock-faced1684
lean-visaged1686
flaber1687
baby-faced1692
splatter-faced1707
chubby1722
puggy1722
block-faced1751
haggard-looking1756
long-faced1762
haggardly1763
fresh-faced1766
dough-faced1773
pudding-faced1777
baby-featured1780
fat-faced1782
haggard1787
weazen-face1794
keen1798
ferret-like1801
lean-cheeked1812
mulberry-faced1812
open-faced1813
open-countenanced1819
chiselled1821
hatchety1821
misfeatured1822
terse1824
weazen-faced1824
mahogany-faced1825
clock-faced1827
sharp1832
sensual1833
beef-faced1838
weaselly1838
ferret-faced1840
sensuous1843
rat-faced1844
recedent1849
neat-faced1850
cherubimical1854
pinch-faced1859
cherubic1860
frownya1861
receding1866
weak1882
misfeaturing1885
platopic1885
platyopic1885
pro-opic1885
wind-splitting1890
falcon-face1891
blunt-featured1916
bun-faced1927
fish-faced1963
1563 A. Neville in B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. A.iii Such crabfaced, cankerd, carlish chuffs.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. (1655) v. 14 An old crab-fac'd English Fryer.
crab-farming n. raising crabs in enclosed shallows for the market.
ΚΠ
1889 Cent. Dict. Crab-farming, a system of protecting or preserving crabs by keeping them in pens in salt-water shallows, where they are fattened for market.
crab-hole n. Australian a hole burrowed by a land crab.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab) > hole burrowed by crab
crab-hole1848
1848 Mrs. Perry in G. Goodman Church in Victoria (1892) 72 Full of crab-holes, which are exceedingly dangerous for the horses... These holes are formed by a small land-crab, and then gradually enlarged by the water draining into them.
1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. ii. 47 The surface [of the land] was closely pitted with crabhole-like water-hollows.
1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life 16 Price and Cooper, being cooks had kindled an unobtrusive fire in a crab-hole, where three billies were soon boiling.
1956 S. Hope Diggers' Paradise xvii. 157 The ball may be lifted or dropped without penalty from wallaby scrapes, crab holes, ironstone outcrops and tractor marks.
crab-holed adj. covered with crab-holes.
ΚΠ
1908 J. Gunn We of Never-never xii. 152 One hundred and thirty miles of sun-baked, crab-holed, practically trackless plains.
crab lobster n. the porcelain-crab, an anomourous crustacean.
ΚΠ
1999 Indianapolis Monthly June 239/1 The Combo—a large iced platter of steamed crab lobster, four oysters and two giant shrimp.
2007 K. K. Snyder Frommer's Atlanta vi. 126 The star of the menu is the crab lobster entree, one or two Maine 1-pounders prepared six different ways.
crab plover n. of the Indian Ocean, Dromas ardeola.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > member of (miscellaneous)
painted snipe1811
pressiroster1842
seedsnipe1889
crab plover1893
1893 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. 1 109 Crab-plover, the Anglo-Indian name for a curious bird of wide range, frequenting the east coast of Africa from the Red Sea to Natal, as well as the northern..shores of the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal,..Dromas ardeola.
crab-pot n. (a) a trap for crabs, a basket or frame of wickerwork so constructed that crabs can readily enter but cannot get out again; (b) (also crab-pot valve) (in airships) a fabric valve with a sleeve which could be closed like a crab-pot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > fish-trap > [noun] > for lobsters or crabs
lobster-pot1765
crab-pot1793
trap-creel1795
trunk1835
lobster-creel1853
lobster-trap1865
stick pot1887
partan cage1899
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [noun] > valve
ripping valve1900
crab-pot1918
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §264 They..disengaged the layers of cork..and cut them to pieces for their Crab-pots and Seines.
1862 D. T. Ansted & R. G. Latham Channel Islands ii. viii. 180 The rope made from it is especially valuable for crab pots.
1918 W. E. Dommett Dict. Aircraft 16 Crab-pot, a fabric valve used for controlling the inlet of air to the ballonets of a non-rigid airship.
1950 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) i. 53 Crabpot valve, a special type of fabric sleeve the operation of which is controlled by a hand-line.
crab-potting n. the catching of crabs in pots: cf. crab-pot n. (a), pot n.1 5b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing for type of fish > [noun] > for crabs
crabbing1657
crab-fishing1888
crab-potting1891
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Aug. 3/1 We may meet a fisherman returning from crab potting.
1902 Cutcliffe Hyne in Windsor Mag. July (title) The gentle art of crab-potting.
crab rock n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1877 A. H. Green Geol. for Students: Physical Geol. (ed. 2) iv. §4 Crab Rock, local name of brecciated Permian rocks of Cumberland and Westmoreland.
crab-roller n. Printing a short roller mounted at an angle on a larger one so as to travel back and forth, distributing the ink evenly.
ΚΠ
1889 Cent. Dict. Crab-roller,..a small roller which distributes printing-ink on the ink-cylinder of the Adams printing-press: so called because its motion is sidewise and apparently diagonal.
1896 Amer. Bk.-maker Aug. 37/1 The ‘crab-roller’ is yet known to some Adams pressmen. It was an ingenious little mechanism, having a sort of sideways-backward movement.
crab's claw n. (a) the claw of crabs, formerly used in medicine for the same purpose as crab's-eye n.; (b) a water-plant, Water Soldier, Stratiotes Aloides.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > biological product > [noun] > from crustaceans
eye1561
crab's-eye1605
crab's claw1710
1710 T. Fuller Pharmacopœia Extemporanea 30 Take Powder of Crabs-claws compound..half a scruple.
1758 R. Dossie Elaboratory laid open 163 Crabs claws are for the most part sold or used when crabs eyes are demanded or ordered.
crab-shell n. the carapace of a crab; slang a shoe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun]
shoec950
subpedital1526
suppeditary1596
suppeditor1687
crab-shell1807
kicks1904
1807 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life II. xviii. 185 An old crab-shell, which, in..his antiquarian fury, he shall consider as an inestimable treasure.
crab-snouted adj. (see crab-faced adj.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > types of face > [adjective]
flatc1400
hardc1400
low-cheeredc1400
large?a1425
ruscledc1440
well-visagedc1440
platter-faced1533
well-faced1534
full-faced1543
fair-faced1553
bright-faceda1560
crab-faced1563
crab-snouted1563
crab-tree-faced1563
long-visaged1584
owlya1586
wainscot-faced1588
flaberkin1592
rough-hewn1593
angel-faced1594
round-faced1594
crab-favoured1596
rugged1596
weasel-faced1596
rough-faced1598
half-faced1600
chitty1601
lenten-faced1604
broad-faced1607
dog-faced1607
weaselled-faced1607
wry-faced1607
maid-faced1610
warp-faced1611
ill-faceda1616
lean-faceda1616
old-faceda1616
moon-faced1619
monkey-faced1620
chitty-face1622
chitty-faceda1627
lean-chapt1629
antic-faced1635
bloat-faced1638
bacon-facea1640
blue-faced1640
hatchet-faced1648
grave1650
lean-jawed1679
smock-faced1684
lean-visaged1686
flaber1687
baby-faced1692
splatter-faced1707
chubby1722
puggy1722
block-faced1751
haggard-looking1756
long-faced1762
haggardly1763
fresh-faced1766
dough-faced1773
pudding-faced1777
baby-featured1780
fat-faced1782
haggard1787
weazen-face1794
keen1798
ferret-like1801
lean-cheeked1812
mulberry-faced1812
open-faced1813
open-countenanced1819
chiselled1821
hatchety1821
misfeatured1822
terse1824
weazen-faced1824
mahogany-faced1825
clock-faced1827
sharp1832
sensual1833
beef-faced1838
weaselly1838
ferret-faced1840
sensuous1843
rat-faced1844
recedent1849
neat-faced1850
cherubimical1854
pinch-faced1859
cherubic1860
frownya1861
receding1866
weak1882
misfeaturing1885
platopic1885
platyopic1885
pro-opic1885
wind-splitting1890
falcon-face1891
blunt-featured1916
bun-faced1927
fish-faced1963
1563 A. Neville in B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. A.iiv Those Crabsnowted bestes those ragyng feends of Hell.
crab-spider n. the name of several species of spiders.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > suborder Labidognatha or Dipneumones > member of family Thomisidae
crab-spider1861
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. v. ii 260 The Mygales (Crab Spiders and Mason Spiders).
crab-step n. a sidelong step by a capering horse.
ΚΠ
1889 Cent. Dict. Crab-step, a sidelong step like that of a crab, made by a horse.
crab-stone n. a calcareous concretion found in the stomach of crustaceans, previous to the casting of their shells; in crayfish it forms the crab's-eyes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > member of > concretion in stomach
eye1561
crevishe eyes1599
crab's-eye1605
crab-stone1861
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. iii. 97 The Crabs' Stones which are most esteemed come from Astrakan.
crabwise adv. (moving) sideways or backwards like a crab; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > sideways movement or a sideways movement > [adjective]
sidelingc1155
sidelong1608
sideward?1617
sideway1650
sideways1684
sidelings1768
sidling1821
sidewards1827
sidewinding1867
sidestepping1902
crabwise1904
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > sideways movement or a sideways movement > [adverb]
sidelonga1398
sidelings?a1400
sidelingc1425
laterallyc1454
collaterally?a1475
sidewarda1513
sidewise1531
byward1556
sideways1572
sidewards1575
sidelingwise1577
crabby1582
crab-like1605
sideway1847
crabwise1904
1904 Daily Chron. 6 May 8/1 There are barges in the way, and these have to be coaxed aside before the Adler can approach crabwise to the wharf.
1926 Chambers's Jrnl. 163/1 She went crabwise about the loch.
1926 Chambers's Jrnl. 224/1 A crabwise gait.
1927 R. A. Freeman Certain Dr. Thorndyke i. iii. 42 He began to advance, crabwise, across the deck in the manner of a wrestler attacking.
1934 C. Lambert Music Ho! v. 298 The innumerable inversions, augmentations, diminutions and crabwise canons of Schönberg's later works.
1963 Times 19 Apr. 5/5 It..swerved out of control and came crabwise down the middle lane and hit my lorry.

Draft additions June 2007

crab cake n. originally U.S. a patty of flaked or minced crabmeat, typically served fried.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > rissoles, balls, or croquettes > [noun]
rishew1340
pomedorry1381
rafiolea1425
raynoll?c1425
pomea1450
andouillet1611
raviol1611
tamale1625
patty1660
poupiets1702
croquette1706
rissole1706
potato cake1747
Basque1769
potato ball1817
Cecils1819
polpetta1822
quenelle1827
kibbeh1829
meatball1835
kromeski1846
quenelle de volaille1846
quesadilla1848
kungu cake1865
ponhaus1869
frikkadel1870
albondigas1872
fricandel1872
Vienna steak1874
pirozhok1887
kofta1888
paupiette1889
cheeseball1895
keftedes1912
baozi1927
crab cake1929
falafel1936
klops1936
coddie1941
wonton1948
fish finger1962
1929 Denton (Maryland) Jrnl. 15 June 5/6 The menu will consist of crab cakes, ham, tomato salad, slaw, biscuits, rolls, [etc.].
2000 A. Bourdain Kitchen Confid. (2001) 144 I worked a deserted crab house on Second Avenue, steaming blue crabs and frying crab cakes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

crabn.2

Brit. /krab/, U.S. /kræb/
Forms: Also Middle English–1600s crabbe, 1500s grabbe; 1500s– scrab n.1
Etymology: Of uncertain origin, appearing first in 15th cent. A Scots form scrab , scrabbe , is evidenced from beg. of 16th cent., and may easily be much older. This is apparently < Norse, as Rietz has Swedish dialect skrabba fruit of the wild apple-tree, and may be the original form. In that case crabbe , crab , would be a southern perversion, assimilated to crab n.1 But, on the other hand, this may be only a transferred use of that word: compare the history and development of crabbed adj., and the application of crab in various languages to a person. A fruit externally promising, but so crabbed and ill-conditioned in quality, might very naturally be so called; yet actual evidence of the connection is wanting. (A Swedish krabbäple , which has been cited, is merely the horticultural name of the American Crab-apple, Pyrus Coronaria, introduced with the shrub from the United States.) crabs in Hazard: see crab n.1 9.
1. The common name of the wild apple, especially connoting its sour, harsh, tart, astringent quality; applied also to cultivated varieties having similar qualities, grown for preserving, making verjuice, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > apple > [noun] > crab-apple
crabc1450
wilding1526
crab-apple1712
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > apple > crab-apple
wood-applec1000
wood crab14..
crabc1450
scrab1467
wilding1526
choke-apple1600
crab-apple1712
cherry-apple1858
Siberian crab1858
souring1866
c1450 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 594/26 Malum macianum, a Crabbe.
c1450 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 715 Hoc arbitum, a crabe.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 44 Rolle hit on balles..In gretnes of crabbes.
1477 T. Norton Ordinall of Alchimy v, in E. Ashmole Theatrum Chem. Britannicum (1652) 74 As by Faces of People ye maie Deeme, When thei tast Crabs while thei be greene.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vii. ii. 18 With wild scrabbis and othir frutis large.]
a1536 W. Tyndale Wks. 10 (R.) As a man would wryng veriuce out of crabbes.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear v. 15 Shees as like this, as a crab is like an apple. View more context for this quotation
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) vi. 2526 They must have veriuice that will squeese such crabbes.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 48/1 The Crab is a small round Apple, growing on Trees in Hedges by the Way sides.
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 121 I fed on scarlet hips and stony haws Or blushing crabs.
1866 J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices I. i. 18 Crabs were collected in order to manufacture verjuice.
figurative.1615 Bp. J. Hall Let. 10 Jan. in Bp. G. Burnet Life W. Bedell (1685) 300 What a sorry crabb [i.e. letter] hath Mr. Waddesworth at last sent us from Sevil?1878 R. Browning Two Poets of Croisic in La Saisiaz & Two Poets of Croisic 109 Weak fruit of idle hours, these crabs of mine I dare lay at thy feet, O Muse divine!
2. The wild apple tree of northern Europe, the original of the common apple ( Pyrus malus).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > apple tree > wild or crab-apple
crab-treec1425
crab1626
crab-stock1640
crab-apple1771
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 99 Crabbe tre, acerbus, macianus, arbutus.]
c1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 646 Hec arbutus, crabtre.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §507 Blossoms of Trees..those of Apples, Crabs, Almonds, and Peaches, are Blushy and smell sweet.
a1679 W. Gurnall in C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David (1874) IV. Ps. ci. 6 You would get the best fruit trees, and not cumber your ground with crabs.
1830 J. Baxter Libr. Agric. & Hort. Knowl. 6 The wild crab is the only apple indigenous to this country.
1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 358 Like the crabs which grow in hedges, they furnish the stocks of sweet..fruits.
figurative.1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker III. 198 The rogue proves to be a crab of my own planting in the days of hot blood and unrestrained libertinism.
3. With qualification applied to some cultivated varieties of the apple (tree and fruit), as Minshull crab; and to other species of the genus, as cherry crab n. Pyrus baccata, Chinese crab n. P. spectabilis, Siberian crab n. P. prunifolia, garland crab n. or American crab-apple ( Pyrus coronaria), and several other North American species.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > apple > crab-apple
wood-applec1000
wood crab14..
crabc1450
scrab1467
wilding1526
choke-apple1600
crab-apple1712
cherry-apple1858
Siberian crab1858
souring1866
1657 J. Beale in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 43 517 The croft Crab and white or red Horse-pear do excel them, and all others.
1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingdom 308 The small Cherry Apple or Scarlet Siberian Crab..used for making quasar punch.
1881 M. E. Braddon Asphodel I. vi. 177 The snowy clusters of the American crab..and seringa, lilac, laburnum, guelder rose.
1882 Garden 28 Oct. 381/2 The Chinese Crab..[is] a tree unsurpassed in beauty by any of the class.
4. A stick or cudgel made of the wood of the crab-tree; a crab-stick.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun]
sowelc893
treec893
cudgelc897
stinga900
bat?c1225
sticka1275
clubc1275
truncheon14..
bourdonc1325
bastona1400
warderera1400
plantc1400
kibble1411
playloomc1440
hurlbatc1450
ploykc1450
rung1491
libberlac1500
waster1533
batonc1550
macana1555
libbet1562
bastinado1574
crab-tree comb1593
tomahawkc1612
billeta1616
wiper1622
batoon1637
gibbeta1640
crab-bat1647
kibbo1688
Indian club1694
batterdasher1696
crab-stick1703
bloodwipea1705
bludgeon1730
kierie1731
oaken towel1739
crab1740
shillelagh1772
knobstick1783
pogamogganc1788
whirlbat1791
nulla-nulla1798
waddy1800
kevel1807
supple1815
mere1820
hurlet1825
knobkerrie1826
blackthorn1829
bastera1833
twig1842
leangle1845
alpeen1847
banger1849
billy1856
thwack-stave1857
clump1868
cosh1869
nulla1878
sap1899
waddy1899
blunt instrument1923
1740 D. Garrick Lying Valet i. ii Out bolts her husband with a fine taper crab in his hand.
5. transferred. The potato-apple. dialect.
ΚΠ
1794 J. Holt Agric. Surv. Lanc. 30 Crabs, or oukles, which grow upon the stems [of potatoes].
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Crab, a potato-apple.
6. Applied to persons:
a. as figurative of 1: A sour person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > [noun] > ill-natured person
crab1574
crab-staffa1603
hunks1602
snarler1634
cross-piecea1652
cross-patch1699
vixen1699
frump1817
catamaran1834
patch1839
crab-stick1840
hunkster1842
grump1900
wampus1912
maltalent1965
1574 J. Baret Aluearie C 1424 A rude pesant, and crabbe of the countrey.
1605 Hist. Tryall Cheualry sig. C2v And that sowre crab do but leere at thee, I shall squeeze him to vargis.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) ii. i. 228 Pet. Nay come Kate, come: you must not looke so sowre. Kate. It is my fashion when I see a Crab . View more context for this quotation
b. In later use, often a back-formation from crabbed adj.: a crabbed, cross-grained, ill-tempered person. [This might come directly from crab n.1; in German and East Frisian krabbe crab (the animal) is applied to a cross-grained, fractious person: see crabbed adj. ]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > offensiveness > offensive person > [noun]
vermin1581
crab-staffa1603
crab1825
crab-stick1840
rotter1879
undesirable1883
greaser1900
foul ball1918
jabroni1919
cockhead1972
nutsack1984
1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 179 What coming crabb over us, old fellow? Very well, I shall bolt and try Randall, and that's all about it.
1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. i. iii. 23 I love you better than..that crab of a priest.
1877 F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness Crab, a peevish, ill-tempered person.
1881 E. Lynn Linton My Love! I. xiii. 229 But there was not a coward nor a ‘crab’, as they called the crossgrained when speaking among themselves.

Compounds

C1. Of or pertaining to the crab-apple or crab-tree.
crab blossom n.
ΚΠ
1888 Daily News 22 May 2/2 The glorious profusion of the crab-blossoms.
crab kernel n.
ΚΠ
1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 76 in Sylva Crab kernels, for Stocks.
crab verjuice n.
ΚΠ
1747 J. Wesley Primitive Physick clxxvi. 95 Bathe it in good Crab Verjuice.
crab vinegar n.
ΚΠ
1884 Farm & Home 25 Oct. 278/3 The old English verjuice, called in the west of England ‘crab vinegar’.
C2. Resembling the crab-apple in its sour, harsh taste, or inferiority as fruit.
crab lemon n.
ΚΠ
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World x. 296 The Lime is a sort of bastard or Crab-limon... The Fruit is like a Lemon, but smaller.
crab orange n.
ΚΠ
1606 J. Marston Parasitaster iii She..lookes as sowerly, as if she had beene new squeased out of a crab orenge.
crab vintage n.
ΚΠ
1698 J. Dryden Ded. to Granville in G. Granville Heroick Love sig. A4v Better gleanings, their worn Soil can boast, Then the Crab-Vintage of the Neighb'ring Coast.
crab wine n.
ΚΠ
1620 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. V. N.T. ii. 470 That liberality hated to prouide crab-wine for his guests.
C3. Also crab-apple n., crab-stick n.1, crab-stock n., crab-tree n., etc.
† crab-bat n. Obsolete a crab-tree club or cudgel.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun]
sowelc893
treec893
cudgelc897
stinga900
bat?c1225
sticka1275
clubc1275
truncheon14..
bourdonc1325
bastona1400
warderera1400
plantc1400
kibble1411
playloomc1440
hurlbatc1450
ploykc1450
rung1491
libberlac1500
waster1533
batonc1550
macana1555
libbet1562
bastinado1574
crab-tree comb1593
tomahawkc1612
billeta1616
wiper1622
batoon1637
gibbeta1640
crab-bat1647
kibbo1688
Indian club1694
batterdasher1696
crab-stick1703
bloodwipea1705
bludgeon1730
kierie1731
oaken towel1739
crab1740
shillelagh1772
knobstick1783
pogamogganc1788
whirlbat1791
nulla-nulla1798
waddy1800
kevel1807
supple1815
mere1820
hurlet1825
knobkerrie1826
blackthorn1829
bastera1833
twig1842
leangle1845
alpeen1847
banger1849
billy1856
thwack-stave1857
clump1868
cosh1869
nulla1878
sap1899
waddy1899
blunt instrument1923
1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 13 I am a Crabbat against Arbitrary Government.
† crab-knob n. Obsolete attributive rough and rugged like a crab-tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > wood > [adjective] > of or having knots
knarryc1405
knottedc1440
crabbed?1518
knubbed1567
warried1567
warry1567
scraggy1574
crab-knob1582
knurly1602
gnarleda1616
thwarterous1625
nodous1646
snubbya1758
snarly1770
swirly1786
gnarly1846
knarred1849
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis i. 5 An Island Theare seat, with crabknob skrude stoans hath framed an hauen.
† crab-staff n. Obsolete = crab-stick n.1; in quot. figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > offensiveness > offensive person > [noun]
vermin1581
crab-staffa1603
crab1825
crab-stick1840
rotter1879
undesirable1883
greaser1900
foul ball1918
jabroni1919
cockhead1972
nutsack1984
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > [noun] > ill-natured person
crab1574
crab-staffa1603
hunks1602
snarler1634
cross-piecea1652
cross-patch1699
vixen1699
frump1817
catamaran1834
patch1839
crab-stick1840
hunkster1842
grump1900
wampus1912
maltalent1965
a1603 Queen Elizabeth in C. M. Ingleby & L. T. Smith Shakespeare's Cent. Prayse (1879) 400 Persius, a Crab-staff, Bawdy Martiall, Ovid a fine Wag.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

crabn.3

Brit. /krab/, U.S. /kræb/
Etymology: Variant of carap n., < a South American Indian language.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
The name of a South American tree, Carapa guianensis, used in compounds.
crab-nut n. the nut or seed of this tree.
Π
1883 E. F. Im Thurn Among Indians of Guiana xiv. 314 On the savannah, where crab-nuts are less easily procured.
crab-oil n. (also carap oil) the oil obtained from crab-nuts, used for lighting purposes and as an anthelmintic.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > other plant-derived oils
oil de baya1398
oil roseta1400
alkitranc1400
laurinec1400
oil of spicac1400
seed oil1400
rape oil1420
nut-oil?c1425
masticine?1440
oil de rose?1440
oil of myrtine?a1450
gingellya1544
rose oil1552
alchitrean1562
oil of spike1577
oil of ben1594
myrtle oil1601
sesamus1601
sampsuchine1616
oil of walnuts1622
rape1641
oil of rhodium1649
rapeseed oil1652
neroli1676
oil of mace1681
spirit of scurvy-grass1682
beech-oil1716
poppy oil1737
castor oil1746
oil of sassafras1753
orange-peel oil1757
wood-oil1759
bergamot1766
sunflower oil1768
Russia oil1773
oil castor1779
tung-yu1788
poppy-seed oil1799
cocoa butter1801
sassafras oil1801
phulwara1805
oil of wine1807
grass oil1827
oil of marjoram1829
cajuput oil1832
essence of mustarda1834
picamar1835
spurge oil1836
oenanthic ether1837
tea oil1837
capnomor1838
cinnamon-oil1838
oil of mustard1838
orange-flower oil1838
resinein1841
mustard oil1844
myrrhol1845
styrol1845
oenanthol1847
shea butter1847
wintergreen1847
gaultheria oil1848
ginger-grass oil.1849
nutmeg oil1849
pine oil1849
peppermint oil1850
cocoa fat1851
orange oil1853
neem oil1856
poonga oil1857
xanthoxylene1857
crab-oil1858
illupi oil1858
Shanghai oil1861
stand oil1862
mustard-seed oil1863
carap oilc1865
cocum butter or oilc1865
Kurung oil1866
muduga oil1866
pichurim oil1866
serpolet1866
sumbul oil1868
sesame oil1870
niger oil1872
summer yellow1872
olibene1873
patchouli oil1875
pilocarpene1876
styrolene1881
tung oil1881
becuiba tallow1884
soy oil1884
tea-seed oil1884
eucalyptus1885
sage oil1888
hop-oil1889
cotton-seed oil1891
lemon oil1896
palmarosa oil1897
illipe butter1904
hydnocarpus oil1905
tung1911
niger seed oil1917
sun oil1937
vanaspati1949
fennel oil-
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > remedies for parasitic infections > [noun] > vermifuge or anthelminthic > plant-derived
wormseedc1503
santonica1658
worm-grass1756
filix mas1789
worm-barkc1791
cowage1801
kamala1820
wormseed oil1830
Mucuna1836
santonin1838
Corsican moss1849
kousso1851
worm-oil1855
crab-oil1858
tallicoona oil1866
kainic acid1954
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Carap Oil, Crab Oil, an oil obtained in South America from the Carapa guianensis.
c1865 H. Letheby in J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 95/1 A semi-solid oil, named Crab or Carapa oil.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 220 at Carapa By pressure the seeds yield a liquid oil, called Carap oil or Crab oil, suitable for burning in lamps..In this country it hardens into a solid fat.
1883 E. F. Im Thurn Among Indians of Guiana xiv. 314 Crab-oil finds a ready sale in the towns. Most of this oil is prepared from the nuts of a very common tree, the crab-wood (Carapa guianensis).
crab-tree n.
Π
1769 E. Bancroft Ess. Nat. Hist. Guiana 81 The Caraba, or Crab Tree..consists of numerous branches, covered with long narrow leaves, of a dark green colour.
crab-wood n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > wood of fruit trees > others
service tree1545
cornel-wood1600
manchineel1683
bois d'arc1805
apple1815
crab-wood1849
peach wood1850
plum1902
persimmon1989
1849 J. F. Bourne in Ecclesiologist IX. 183 I intend to use ‘crab-wood’ for the roof and fittings.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 220/2 Crab-wood..is used for making articles of furniture, for shingles, and for the masts and spars of vessels.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

crabn.4

Etymology: < crab v.2 2.
colloquial.
The action of crabbing or finding fault; an instance of this; an adverse criticism or objection.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > [noun] > captious > instance of
cavil1570
carp1618
crab1893
nitpick1968
1893 Field 11 Mar. 347/1 It will be said I am dreadfully ‘on the crab’, but I believe what I have written is only the simple truth.
1922 Autocar 10 Nov. 956 My only crab to them at present is that [etc.].
1924 J. Buchan Three Hostages 25 The crab of the place was its neighbours.
1927 Observer 10 July 11 The only ‘crab’ we have against this is that cavalry of old effected most of their success by charging infantry.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2019).

crabv.1

Brit. /krab/, U.S. /kræb/
Forms: Also 1500s–1600s crabb; ScottishMiddle English–1500s craib, 1500s–1600s crabe.
Etymology: < crabbed adj. or its source.
†1.
a. transitive. To go counter to, to cross; to put out of humour or temper; to irritate, anger, enrage, provoke. Scottish ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (transitive)]
withgo743
to go again ——OE
withsayc1175
again-goc1275
withsitc1300
thwarta1325
to go against ——a1382
counter1382
repugnc1384
adversea1393
craba1400
gainsaya1400
movec1400
overthwart?a1425
to put (also set) one's face againsta1425
traversea1425
contrairc1425
to take again ——c1425
contraryc1430
to take against ——a1450
opposec1485
again-seta1500
gain?a1500
oppone1500
transverse1532
to come up against1535
heave at1546
to be against1549
encounter1549
to set shoulder against1551
to fly in the face of1553
crossc1555
to cross with1590
countermand1592
forstand1599
opposit1600
thorter1608
obviate1609
disputea1616
obstrigillate1623
contradict1632
avert1635
to set one's hand against1635
top1641
militate1642
to come across ——1653
contrariate1656
to cross upon (or on)1661
shock1667
clash1685
rencounter1689
obtend1697
counteract1708
oppugnate1749
retroact?1761
controvert1782
react1795
to set against ——1859
appose-
the mind > emotion > anger > [verb (transitive)] > make angry
wrethec900
abelgheeOE
abaeileOE
teenOE
i-wrathec1075
wratha1200
awratha1250
gramec1275
forthcalla1300
excitea1340
grieve1362
movea1382
achafea1400
craba1400
angerc1400
mada1425
provokec1425
forwrecchec1450
wrothc1450
arage1470
incensea1513
puff1526
angry1530
despite1530
exasperate1534
exasper1545
stunt1583
pepper1599
enfever1647
nanger1675
to put or set up the back1728
roil1742
outrage1818
to put a person's monkey up1833
to get one's back up1840
to bring one's nap up1843
rouse1843
to get a person's shirt out1844
heat1855
to steam up1860
to get one's rag out1862
steam1922
to burn up1923
to flip out1964
a1400–50 Alexander 5323 Qui colkins þou, ser conquirour & crabbis so þi saule.
a1500 Liber Pluscardensis (Marchm.) (1877) I. 383 Thow makis gret falt..All thus but caus to crab thi creatoure.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Wolf & Wether l. 2580 in Poems (1981) 95 Ane full gude seruand will craib his maister anis.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 563 To contray him or crab in ony thing.
1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. 6 b To put our selues in danger to crab god.
1595 A. Duncan Appendix Etymologiae: Index in Latinae Grammaticae Offendo, to stumble, to crabbe, to find by chance.
a1605 Polwart Flyting with Montgomerie 152 I will..swingeour, for thy sake refuse it..To crabe thee.
b. absol. and intransitive.
ΚΠ
a1500 Ratis Raving ii. 122 Thai here glaidly, and lytill spekis, Laith for to crab and seldin wrekis.
a1500 Ratis Raving iii. 175 Crab nocht lychtly for lytil thing.
a1598 D. Fergusson Sc. Prov. (1641) sig. B4v He that crabbes without cause, should mease without mends.
†2. transitive. To render (the disposition, etc.) ill-tempered or peevish; to sour. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > render ill-natured [verb (transitive)]
crab1662
1662 J. Glanvill Lux Orientalis iv. 43 How age or sickness sowres, and crabbs our natures.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

crabv.2

Brit. /krab/, U.S. /kræb/
Etymology: Apparently the same as Dutch, Low German, East Frisian krabben to scratch, claw, < the same root as crab n.1
1. Falconry. Of hawks: To scratch, claw, or fight with each other.
a. transitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hawking > action of hawk > [verb (transitive)] > other actions
to cast the gorge1535
coast1569
to make its (also her) point1595
crab1674
1674 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation ii. 135 If you mew more than one Hawk in one Room, you must set your Stones at that distance that when they bate they may not crab one another.
b. intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hawking > action of hawk > [verb (intransitive)] > other actions
tirec1220
beak1486
enseam1486
traverse1486
bind1575
crab1575
gleam1575
accost1596
canceleera1640
to wait on1773
to throw up1881
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 173 That when your hawkes bate, they maye not reache one another for crabbing.
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 114 Some Falcons..will crabbe with every Hawke, and flee of purpose to crabbe with them.
1852 R. F. Burton Falconry in Valley of Indus v. 60 If two [hawks] are flown they are certain to fell the game at once, and the falconer is always flurried by their violent propensity to crab over the ‘pelt’.
1892 Note from Correspt. Two hawks soaring or on the ground will often claw each other, when they are said to ‘crab’.
2.
a. transitive. To criticize adversely, cry down, find fault with, ‘peck at’, ‘pull to pieces’. slang or stable-talk, whence colloquial. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > criticize [verb (transitive)] > captiously
upbraidc1290
bite1330
to gnap at1533
carp1550
cavil1581
carp1587
to pick at ——1603
to pick a hole (also holes) in1614
yark1621
vellicate1633
to peck at1641
snob1654
ploat1757
to get at ——1803
crab1819
to pick up1846
knock1892
snark1904
kvetchc1950
to pick nits1978
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. (at cited word) To prevent the perfection or execution of any..business, by saying any thing offensive or unpleasant, is called crabbing it.
1862 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 23 385 Owners..will not send their horses to be crabbed and consequently lowered in value because they cannot pass a strict veterinary inspection.
1890 Times 6 Dec. 12/4 Officers naturally do not care to be frowned upon as men who ‘want to crab the new rifle’.
1890 F. W. Carew No. 747 xx. 228 Shice..alternately ‘crabbed’ and ‘chy-iked’ as the case might require.
1891 F. W. Maude Merciful Divorce 76 And you ‘crab’ the girl because she is able to take care of herself.
1892 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 151 128/2 To crab the complexions or the clothes of the people who occupied the pew in front.
1906 Westm. Gaz. 11 Aug. 1/2 The difference between us and you, said an American who had watched Mr. Chamberlain's Fiscal campaign, is that ‘we boom, and you crab’.
1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby vii. 127 The thing to do is to forget about the heat... You make it ten times worse by crabbing about it.
1968 Listener 4 Apr. 444/2 To no other people can the classic principle of ‘first crib and then crab’ have been so consistently applied.
b. To interfere with or obstruct the working, progress, or success of.Cf. quots. 1819, 1890 at sense 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > types or manners of hindrance > hinder in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > by interference
mareOE
disturbc1386
annoyc1405
interrupta1420
ail1499
blent1530
forelay1571
intervene1588
intervent1600
interpose1615
disrupt1817
derange1848
to put a crimp in (also into, on)1889
crab1899
1899 R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. xxi. 191 We was crabbed... The mugs might ha' wrecked the show.
1901 N.Y. Independent 12 Dec. (Cent. Dict. Suppl.) The use of foreign tires of course crabbed the deal.
1920 Glasgow Herald 18 Aug. 7 Posen contains a large German Irredentist minority, which might crab the Polish military defence.
1922 C. Sandburg Slabs of Sunburnt West 66 You're trying to crab my act.
1934 E. Bowen Cat Jumps 235 Seeming to crab Patsey's marriage.
1941 G. Heyer Envious Casca iv. 62 You've done all you can to crab Willoughby's play.
1955 Times 24 May 16/2 You made it your business to crab the performance.
Categories »
3. ‘To break or bruise. northern’ (Halliwell.)
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

crabv.3

Etymology: Nonce-uses, derived < crab n.1, crab n.2, or their derivatives.
†1. transitive. To beat with a crab-stick; to cudgel.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > administer corporal punishment [verb (transitive)] > with cudgel
becudgel1591
rib-baste1598
craba1625
fustigate1656
gallantify1672
a1625 J. Fletcher Monsieur Thomas (1639) iv. vi. sig. K2v Get ye to bed, drab, Or Ile so crab your shoulders.
†2. ? To catch as a crab does. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1721 C. Cibber Refusal i. 15 I hold six to four now, thou hast been crabb'd at Paris in the Missisippi. Granger. Not I, Faith, Sir; I would no more put my Money into the Stocks there, than my Legs into the Stocks here.
3.
a. Nautical. (See quot. 1867.)
ΚΠ
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Crabbing to it, carrying an overpress of sail in a fresh gale, by which a ship crabs or drifts sideways to leeward.
b. Aeronautics. To put (an aeroplane) in a position diverging from the straight course; to fly at an angle to the longitudinal axis. Also in other transferred uses (transitive and intransitive) and with back, in, on.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > sideways movement or a sideways movement > cause to move sideways [verb (transitive)]
wind13..
sidle1779
sidestep1905
side-slip1906
crab1929
society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > navigation of course of aircraft > navigate aircraft [verb (transitive)] > diverge from straight course
crab1929
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > sideways movement or a sideways movement > move sideways [verb (intransitive)]
side1826
crayfish1900
sidewind1909
side-slip1921
crab1964
1929 A. C. McKinley Appl. Aerial Photogr. 36 Adjusting the Camera for Crab.—On approaching the starting point of each strip the pilot will crab the airplane in order to make allowances for the wind.
1962 Punch 17 Jan. 134/3 He knows which [TV] cameras can be crabbed (moved sideways).
1964 G. Lyall Most Dangerous Game iii. 25 I crabbed in towards him, holding the knife low.
1964 G. Lyall Most Dangerous Game xviii. 116 I crabbed back to my chair and sat down.
1966 ‘W. Haggard’ Power House i. 12 Once skidding it [sc. a car] crabbed on helplessly.
1970 W. K. Kilford Elem. Air Survey (ed. 2) iv. 89 Crabbing gives rise to loss of stereoscopic cover, since the area of overlap between two consecutive photographs is reduced.
Categories »
4. U.S. colloquial (figurative) = crawfish v.
5. Dyeing, etc. To subject to the operation of crabbing n.3
ΚΠ
1892 Prof. Hummel (in letter) Cloth that has not been crabbed.
6. See crabbing n.2

Derivatives

crab n.5 Aeronautics a sideways movement of an aeroplane (see sense 3b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > sideways movement or a sideways movement > [noun]
by-start1542
siding1646
crab1929
sidewinding1930
1929 A. C. McKinley Appl. Aerial Photogr. 13 So that..the necessary amount of crab can be obtained at which the airplane must fly.
1929 [see sense 3b].
1959 J. L. Nayler Dict. Aeronaut. Engin. 70 Crab angle, a colloquial term for the angle of yaw.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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