Main Entry:

¹crab

Pronunciation:

\ˈkrab\

Function:

noun

Usage:

often attributive

Etymology:

Middle English crabbe, from Old English crabba; akin to Old High German krebiz crab and perhaps to Old English ceorfan to carve — more at carve

Date:

before 12th century

1plural crabs also crab : any of numerous chiefly marine broadly built decapod crustaceans: a: any of an infraorder (Brachyura) with a short broad usually flattened carapace, a small abdomen that curls forward beneath the body, short antennae, and the anterior pair of limbs modified as grasping pincers b: any of various crustaceans of an infraorder (Anomura) resembling true crabs in the more or less reduced condition of the abdomen 2capitalized : cancer 13plural : infestation with crab lice4: the angular difference between an aircraft's course and the heading necessary to make that course in the presence of a crosswind