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