crabbing

verb

present participle of crab
1
as in complaining
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely their two-year-old whined and crabbed for the whole car trip

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of crabbed the blossoming romance by becoming moody and demanding

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of crabbing Book a charter boat for crabbing, deep-sea fishing, or whale watching. — Sierra Vandervort, Travel + Leisure, 10 Sep. 2026 Getting a crabbing license isn't easy, and Maryland limits the number to around 5,400 each year to protect the Chesapeake Bay's crab population, which declined between 2011 and 2023. — Brittney Melton, NPR, 14 Aug. 2026 This is a wonderful time to enjoy the great outdoors — surfing and crabbing come to mind. — Ed Silverman, STAT, 17 July 2026 Northside Park, a 58-acre complex that includes pickleball courts, soccer fields, walking and biking trails, and a fishing and crabbing pier, is an ideal spot to stay active. — Katie Riley, Southern Living, 15 July 2026 Members gather on local piers to learn crabbing techniques, understand regulations and try their luck at bringing home fresh seafood. — Loureen Ayyoub, CBS News, 22 June 2026 As the crabbing season gains momentum, Maryland watermen are grappling with a surge in operational expenses, led by high fuel prices that are forcing them to pass rising costs on to consumers. — Tessa Bentulan, Baltimore Sun, 9 June 2026 The Broncos chose to be strategic, their offseason a laser, not a crabbing net. — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 25 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crabbing
  1. complaining
  2. damaging
  3. screaming
  4. marring
  5. whining
  6. injuring
  7. moaning
  8. hurting
Verb
  • That would drive up yields on French bonds, making borrowing to fund that spending even more expensive—and thus worsen the problem that the rioters are complaining about.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Voters are not going to make legislators do a better job by grumbling and complaining.
    — Scott Warren, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of complaining
Verb
  • The kingdom acknowledged on Tuesday that two of its airports were attacked, leaving three lightly injured and damaging the facilities.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Those concerns deserve to be heard, but damaging property is not the answer.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of damaging
Verb
  • Research on hitting objects does not support it as a way to reduce anger, and there are too few studies of screaming to conclude its effects.
    — Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Onstage, Slayyyter, whose real name is Catherine Grace Garner, is a force, constantly moving around the stage, thrashing her head along to the music and screaming the lyrics to her songs.
    — Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of screaming
Verb
  • The Trib is withholding Nick’s full name to avoid marring his reputation in the eyes of future employers or others who might run a search on him.
    — Kate Payne, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The latter track takes overt inspiration from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette, as Jepsen beckons her love to engage in life’s vices with her, like marring bedsheets with fruit stains and dashing nude through the garden.
    — Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of marring
Verb
  • While the left spent all week whining about Sophie Cunningham's hat and firing squad best practices, us PATRIOTS were biding our time, keeping our heads down, and grinding towards another weekend.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Dogs may actually improve our sleep habits by forcing us to adjust to consistent bedtime schedules — as anyone with a sleepy, whining dog can confirm.
    — Gina Vivinetto, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of whining
Verb
  • Monday's attack came a day after a Russian drone struck the village of Pisochyn in the Kharkiv district, killing three people and injuring nine others, including children, according to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The attack on Saturday was deadlier, with strikes killing 12 people and injuring over 300 others.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of injuring
Verb
  • For a cold moment the silence locked a grip on our table, though it was broken, at the edges, by the golf commentators moaning and harrumphing, Rory McIlroy having had a canary on a seventeenth fairway somewhere this championship Sunday.
    — Kevin Barry, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026
  • By the time Fowler gave up trying to put one in Carruthers, DiLiberato could hear her client moaning and see blood oozing out of his puncture wounds.
    — Keri Blakinger, ProPublica, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of moaning
Verb
  • The nationwide high school protest movement — over deteriorating school buildings, teacher shortages, and inequalities hurting schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods — has energized young voters, who may prove key to the election outcome.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
  • The difference could be former Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki, who figures to play a more prominent role in the passing game with the Bengals hurting at wide receiver.
    — Keven Lerner, Sun Sentinel, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of hurting

Browse Nearby Words

crabbedness
crabbing
crabby
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Crabbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crabbing. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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