crawfish

1 of 2

noun

craw·​fish ˈkrȯ-ˌfish 

1

: crayfish sense 1

2

: spiny lobster

crawfish

2 of 2

verb

crawfished; crawfishing; crawfishes

intransitive verb

: to retreat from a position : back out

I crawfished as fast as I could

—Mark Twain

Examples of crawfish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

According to the sheriff’s office, the 82-year-old had been fishing for crawfish and got stuck in waist-deep muddy water, leaving him stranded. —Angel Saunders, People.com, 29 Mar. 2025

Sawtelle Some best dishes off the lengthy menu include the house signature pork rice noodles, Changsha-style spicy tofu, Changsha-style spicy medley, the signature peel-and-eat spicy crawfish and spicy chili beef noodle. —Kaila Yu, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025

Verb

In a growing trend, lots of schools are holding showcases next month to attract college coaches and inviting opponents to play in seven-on-seven competitions while using free food as an incentive to get the college recruiters to show up, from barbecue to crawfish on the menu. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2025

By June 2023, there had been more than 2,600 violations of a 2019 Louisiana law that mandated restaurants indicate if the shrimp or crawfish on their menus were imported. —Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 24 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

by folk etymology from Middle English crevis, kraveys

First Known Use

Noun

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1842, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for crawfish

• bluefish
• catfish
• codfish
• dogfish
• finfish
• flatfish
• goldfish
• groundfish
• kingfish
• offish
• redfish
• rockfish

Kids Definition

crawfish

noun

craw·​fish

ˈkrȯ-ˌfish

1

: crayfish sense 1

2

: spiny lobster