Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Crab
Crab
(krăb)
, Noun.
[AS.
crabba
; akin to D. krab
, G. krabbe
, krebs
, Icel. krabbi
, Sw. krabba
, Dan. krabbe
, and perh. to E. cramp
. Cf. Crawfish
.] 1.
(Zool.)
One of the brachyuran Crustacea. They are mostly marine, and usually have a broad, short body, covered with a strong shell or carapace. The abdomen is small and curled up beneath the body.
☞ The name is applied to all the Brachyura, and to certain Anomura, as the hermit
crabs
. Formerly, it was sometimes applied to Crustacea in general. Many species are edible, the blue crab of the Atlantic coast being one of the most esteemed. The large European edible crab is Cancer padurus
. Soft-shelled crabs
are blue crabs that have recently cast their shells. See Cancer
; also, Box crab
, Fiddler crab
, Hermit crab
, Spider crab
, etc., under Box
, Fiddler
. etc. 2.
The zodiacal constellation Cancer.
3.
[See ]
Crab
, Adj.
(Bot.)
A crab apple; – so named from its harsh taste.
When roasted
Then nightly sings the staring owl.
crabs
hiss in the bowl,Then nightly sings the staring owl.
Shakespeare
4.
A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick.
[Obs.]
Garrick.
5.
(Mech.)
(a)
A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc.
(b)
A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc.
(c)
A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn.
(d)
A claw for anchoring a portable machine.
Calling crab
. (Zool.)
See , 2.
– Fiddler
., Noun.
Crab apple
, a small, sour apple, of several kinds; also, the tree which bears it; as, the European
– crab apple
(Pyrus Malus
var. sylvestris
); the Siberian crab apple
(Pyrus baccata
); and the American (Pyrus coronaria
). Crab grass
. (Bot.)
(a)
A grass (
Digitaria sanguinalis
syn. Panicum sanguinalis
); – called also finger grass
. (b)
A grass of the genus
– Eleusine
(Eleusine Indica
); – called also dog’s-tail grass
, wire grass
, etc. Crab louse
(Zool.)
, a species of louse (
– Phthirius pubis
), sometimes infesting the human body. Crab plover
(Zool.)
, an Asiatic plover (
– Dromas ardeola
). Crab's eyes
, or Crab's stones
masses of calcareous matter found, at certain seasons of the year, on either side of the stomach of the European crawfishes, and formerly used in medicine for absorbent and antacid purposes; the gastroliths.
– Crab spider
(Zool.)
, one of a group of spiders (
– Laterigradæ
); – called because they can run backwards or sideways like a crab. Crab tree
, the tree that bears crab applies.
– Crab wood
, a light cabinet wood obtained in Guiana, which takes a high polish.
McElrath.
– To catch a crab
(Naut.)
, a phrase used of a rower
: (a)
when he fails to raise his oar clear of the water
; (b)
when he misses the water altogether in making a stroke.
Crab
(krăb)
, Verb.
T.
1.
To make sour or morose; to embitter.
[Obs.]
Sickness sours or
crabs
our nature. Glanvill.
2.
To beat with a crabstick.
[Obs.]
J. Fletcher.
Crab
,Verb.
I.
(Naut.)
To drift sidewise or to leeward, as a vessel.
Ham. Nav. Encyc.
Crab
,Adj.
[Prob. from the same root as
crab
, n.
] Sour; rough; austere.
The
crab
vintage of the neighb'ring coast. Dryden.
Webster 1828 Edition
Crab
CRAB
,Noun.
1 A crustaceous fish, the cray-fish, Cancer, a genus containing numerous species. They have usually ten feet, two of which are furnished with claws; two eyes, pedunculated, elongated and movable. To this genus belong the lobster, the shrimp, &c.
2.
A wild apple, or the tree producing it; so named from its rough taste.3.
A peevish morose person.4.
A wooden engine with three claws for launching ships and heaving them into the dock.5.
A pillar used sometimes for the same purpose as a capstan.6.
Cancer, a sign in the zodiac.Crabs claws, in the materia medica, the tips of the claws of the common crab; used as absorbents.
Crabs eyes, in pharmacy, concretions formed in the stomach of the cray-fish. They are rounded on one side, and depressed and sinuated on the other, considerably heavy, moderately hard, and without smell. They are absorbent, discussive and diuretic.
Crab-lice, small insects that stick fast to the skin.
CRAB
,Adj.