crabber

1 of 2

noun (1)

crab·​ber ˈkra-bər 

plural crabbers

: someone or something that crabs: such as

a

: someone who fishes for crabs

The crabber sorts the harvest in his cramped boat.

—Tom Horton

Restrictions on crabbing are at best a holding action, the watermen say. "They can't regulate the crabs, so they regulate the crabber,"…

—Peter McGrath

b

: a boat engaged in crab fishing

Barcott said the vessel was used as a crabber and also as a tender for other summer fisheries.

—Hal Bernton

crabber

2 of 2

noun (2)

: a crabby or grouchy person : crab entry 3

The greatest crabber in history, … he spent his last decades living with his sister and being crabby.

—NPR

Examples of crabber in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In 2018, the commercial season began without a hitch, although recreational crabbers had to postpone their fishing. —Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2024

Many of the pieces in his collection are inspired by the sea; his father was a fisherman and crabber, and Wagoner was once an ocean rescue lifeguard. —Caitie Kelly Fiona Kerr Rima Suqi Salomé Gómez-Upegui Ayodeji Rotinwa Gage Daughdrill, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2023

McFadden, first-generation crabber Chesapeake Bay crab traditions, new and old Armed force: Ukraine and Russia Born in the impulses of the moment, war too often turns into a state of being, a long slog through pain and destruction that seems to know no end. —Bishop Sand, Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2023

Tensions peaked in 1979 in the town of Seadrift, 45 miles down the coast from Palacios, when a Vietnamese fisherman shot and killed a white crabber who had been harassing him over fishing territory. —Amy Qin Callaghan O’Hare, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2023

Storms can damage the flats where fishers and crabbers make their living, ripping up the grass where fish hide, feed and spawn. —Rebecca Blackwell and James Pollard, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Sep. 2023

Part-owner Caryn Gaffney knows where the crabbers — usually her husband, son and a helper on a 44-foot boat — are going, whether Solomans Island or by the Bay Bridge. —Kendyl Kearly, Baltimore Sun, 17 July 2023

An increase in shipping fees from the Gulf states and spiraling hikes in the cost of diesel fuel for crabbers’ boats. —Mike Klingaman, Baltimore Sun, 5 July 2023

Likewise, blue cats in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed are taking a toll on the blue crab population, making things tough for commercial crabbers. —Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 14 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1830, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1909, in the meaning defined above