n.
Pronunciation: ' shrimp, esp Southern ' srimp
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural shrimps or shrimp
Etymology: Middle English shrimpe; akin to Middle Low German schrempen to contract, wrinkle, Old Norse skorpna to shrivel up
Date: 14th century
1 : any of numerous mostly small and marine decapod crustaceans (suborders Dendrobranchiata and Pleocyemata) having a slender elongated body, a compressed abdomen, and a long spiny rostrum and including some (esp. family Penaeidae) that are commercially important as food also : a small crustacean (as an amphipod or a branchiopod) resembling the true shrimps
2 : a very small or puny person or thing
– shrimp · like \ - ˌ l ī k \ adjective
– shrimpy \ ' shrim-p ē , ' srim- \ adjective