1. Decapod having eyes on short stalks and a broad flattened carapace with a small abdomen folded under the thorax and pincers
   "Children caught small crabs in tide pools"
    
2. The edible flesh of any of various crabs
   "The chef used fresh crab in the seafood salad";
   - crabmeat
    
3. A louse that infests the pubic region of the human body
   "The hospital tested for the presence of crab lice";
   - crab louse, pubic louse, Pthirus pubis
    
4. A stroke of the oar that either misses the water or digs too deeply
   "he caught a crab and lost the race"
    
5. A quarrelsome grouch
   "The crab complained about every little thing at the restaurant";
   - crabby person

1. Scurry sideways like a crab
   "The child crabbed across the beach to avoid the waves"
    
2. Fish for crab
   "They crabbed in the bay all summer"
    
3. [informal] Complain
   "What was he crabbing about?";
   - gripe, bitch [informal], grouse, beef [informal], squawk, bellyache [informal], holler [informal]
    
4. (air travel) direct (an aircraft) into a crosswind
   "The pilot crabbed the plane to compensate for the strong winds"

1. The fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22
   - Cancer, Cancer the Crab
    
2. (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer
   - Cancer

Derived forms: crabs, crabbing, crabbed

Type of: actor, beetle [informal], channelise [Brit], channelize, churl, complain, crank, crosspatch [informal], decapod, decapod crustacean, direct, doer, fish, grouch, grump, guide, head, house, kick [informal], kvetch [N. Amer, informal], louse, maneuver [US], manoeuvre [Brit, Cdn], mansion, moan, plain [archaic], planetary house, point, rowing, scamper, scurry, scutter [Brit], scuttle, shellfish, sign, sign of the zodiac, skitter, sound off, star sign, steer, sucking louse, worker

Part of: Brachyura, crab cocktail, genus Phthirius, genus Phthirus, Phthirius, Phthirus, suborder Brachyura

Encyclopedia: Crab, Virginia