1. Annoyed and irritable
   "The crabbed old man yelled at the kids to get off his lawn";
   - crabby, cross, fussy, grouchy [informal], grumpy, bad-tempered, ill-tempered, arsey [Brit, informal]
    
2. (of handwriting) difficult to read, cramped or irregular
   "his crabbed handwriting was nearly impossible to decipher"

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"

See also: ill-natured

Type of: beetle [informal], channelise [Brit], channelize, complain, direct, fish, guide, head, kick [informal], kvetch [N. Amer, informal], maneuver [US], manoeuvre [Brit, Cdn], moan, plain [archaic], point, scamper, scurry, scutter [Brit], scuttle, skitter, sound off, steer

Encyclopedia: Crab, Virginia