n. & v.
n. 1 (pl. same or shrimps) any of various small (esp. marine) edible crustaceans, with ten legs, grey-green when alive and pink when boiled. 2 colloq. a very small slight person.
v.intr. go catching shrimps. shrimp plant an evergreen shrub, Justicia brandegeana, bearing small white flowers in clusters of pinkish-brown bracts. shrimper n.
[ ME, prob. rel. to MLG schrempen wrinkle, MHG schrimpfen contract, and SCRIMP ]