crustacean

noun

crus·​ta·​cean ˌkrə-ˈstā-shən 

: any of a large class (Crustacea) of mostly aquatic mandibulate arthropods that have a chitinous or calcareous and chitinous exoskeleton, a pair of often much modified appendages on each segment, and two pairs of antennae and that include the lobsters, shrimp, crabs, wood lice, water fleas, and barnacles

crustacean adjective

Examples of crustacean in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The remaining eight are soy, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and sesame. —Ross Rosenfeld, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Apr. 2025

For a few crustaceans, such as lobsters—which pee from their heads—urine can also convey information about social status and readiness to mate. —Gennaro Tomma, Scientific American, 11 Apr. 2025

At a fishing port in Taiwan, researchers bought four giant crustaceans hauled in as bycatch by a trawling vessel in the South China Sea. —Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2025

The spill has taken place in a productive fishing area that supports the largest crustacean fishery in Europe, with about £15 million of live lobster landed annually. —Lauren Lowman, WIRED, 15 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1835, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for crustacean

• ablation
• bination
• carnation
• cassation
• castration
• causation
• centration
• cessation
• cetacean
• chelation
• citation
• collation

Kids Definition

crustacean

noun

crus·​ta·​cean ˌkrəs-ˈtā-shən 

: any of a large class of mostly water-dwelling arthropods (as lobsters, shrimps, crabs, wood lice, water fleas, and barnacles) having an exoskeleton of chitin or chitin and a compound of calcium

crustacean adjective