释义 |
crab I. \ˈkrab, -aa(ə)b\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English crabbe, from Old English crabba; akin to Old High German krebiz crab, Old Norse krabbi, Old English ceorfan to cut — more at carve 1. a. : any of a number of chiefly marine largely carnivorous rather stocky and broadly built crustaceans: (1) : any member of the tribe Brachyura distinguished by a short broad and usually flattened carapace, a small abdomen that curls forward beneath the body and fits into a groove in the thorax, short antennae, and the anterior pair of limbs modified as pincers or grasping organs (2) : any of various members of the tribe Anomura resembling the brachyurans in having the abdomen reduced and permanently flexed — see hermit crab, purse crab b. : king crab 2. : any of various machines or apparatus especially for raising or hauling heavy weights: as a. : a winch mounted (as on skids) so that it can be moved b. : the part of an overhead traveling crane that rolls along the track and carries the load c. : a claw for anchoring a portable machine d. : a machine for textile crabbing 3. crabs plural : a losing throw of two or three in the game of hazard — compare crap 1 4. a. (1) [so called from the hooked feet resembling those of a crab] : crab louse (2) crabs plural : pediculosis — usually used with the b. : the larva of a stone fly 5. : apparent sideways motion especially of an airplane headed into a crosswind II. verb (crabbed ; crabbed ; crabbing ; crabs) transitive verb 1. : to cause to move sideways or in an indirect or diagonal manner < on the upstream trip broadside winds crabbed the boat close to the riverbank > specifically : to head (an airplane or glider) by means of the rudder into a crosswind to counteract drift and thus give the aircraft apparent sidewise motion with respect to the ground 2. : to subject to crabbing intransitive verb 1. a. (1) : to move sideways, indirectly, or diagonally < at high speed the car would crab around corners > (2) of a pilot : to crab an airplane or glider b. : to scuttle or scurry sideways like a crab < jumping aboard and crabbing along the gunwale to the controls — K.M.Dodson > 2. : to fish for or catch crabs III. adjective music : moving backwards IV. noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English crabbe, perhaps from crabbe crab (the crustacean) — more at crab I 1. : crab apple 2. : a cudgel of crab-tree wood : crabstick V. verb (crabbed ; crabbed ; crabbing ; crabs) Etymology: Middle English craben, crabben, probably back-formation from crabbed transitive verb 1. archaic Britain : anger, irritate 2. : to make sullen : sour < old age had crabbed his nature > < then what's crabbing you? — S.H.Adams > 3. : to complain about : criticize peevishly or petulantly : pull to pieces < crab the conduct of a neighbor > < each side tended to crab the weapon of the other — Bernard Brodie > 4. : spoil, ruin < crab a deal > < an unknown … might have crabbed his own act if he had started clobbering a war hero — James Marlow > < the author's writing … is not so much crabbed by technical jargon as by a pedantic style — Infantry Journal > intransitive verb 1. : to be ill-tempered : grouse < she'd always be crabbing without cause > 2. : to criticize in a petty, peevish, or petulant manner : complain < crab at a person > < his boss crabbed about him > VI. noun (-s) 1. : a sour ill-tempered person : crosspatch 2. : an instance of critical carping : testy objection VII. verb (crabbed ; crabbed ; crabbing ; crabs) Etymology: Dutch krabben to scratch, claw, from Middle Dutch crabben; akin to Old English crabba crab — more at crab I of hawks : scratch, fight VIII. variant of carapa |