: any of several spider crabs (genus Chionoecetes)
especially: snow crab
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebThe collapse of two of three major crab stocks in Alaska — there’s a third, bairdi crab, also called tanner crab, which is doing fine, but is a much smaller industry — is more than a gastronomic inconvenience for the one-percenters. Laura Reiley, Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2022 The collapse of two of three major crab stocks in Alaska -- there’s a third, bairdi crab, also called tanner crab, which is doing fine, but is a much smaller industry -- is more than a gastronomic inconvenience for the one-percenters. Laura Reiley, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Aug. 2022 Test line fisheries at Cook Inlet might be shortened and tanner crab surveys at Prince William Sound could get the ax.Anchorage Daily News, 3 Sep. 2019
Word History
Etymology
probably from New Latin tanneri, specific epithet of Chionoecetes tanneri, from Zera L. Tanner †1906 American naval officer