often attributive
1
plural 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
2
capitalized
: cancer sense 1
3
crabs plural
: infestation with crab lice
4
: the angular difference between an aircraft's course and the heading necessary to make that course in the presence of a crosswind
crabbed; crabbing
1
: to fish for crabs
2
a(1)
: to move sideways indirectly or diagonally
(2)
: to crab an airplane
b
: to scuttle or scurry sideways
1
: to cause to move sideways or in an indirect or diagonal manner
specifically
: to head (an airplane) into a crosswind to counteract drift
2
: to subject to crabbing
crabbed; crabbing
1
: to make sullen : sour
old age has crabbed his nature
2
: to complain about peevishly
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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