Word of the Day

: November 26, 2014

crabwise

adverb KRAB-wyze

What It Means

1 : sideways

2 : in a sidling or cautiously indirect manner

crabwise in Context

Rather than asking his parents for a car directly, Noah approached the matter crabwise, stressing how inconvenient it was for them to have to drive him everywhere.

"But personally, my bed … is just for sleeping in. It is actually … 6ft wide, and it is beautiful beyond words. No matter that I have to walk crabwise round the room in order to get in, out or dressed." - Lucy Mangan, The Guardian (London), January 4, 2011

Did You Know?

There's no reason to be indirect when explaining the etymology of crabwise; we'll get right to the point. As you might guess, the meaning of that word is directly related to that sidling sea creature, the crab. If you live near the shore or have visited a beach near the sea, you have probably seen crabs scuttling along, often moving sideways and not taking what humans would consider the most direct route. The modern meanings of crabwise were definitely inspired by the crab's lateral or oblique approach to getting from one place to another. The word crept into English in the mid-19th century and has been sidling into our sentences ever since.