n. [ AS. crabba; akin to D. krab, G. krabbe, krebs, Icel. krabbi, Sw. krabba, Dan. krabbe, and perh. to E. cramp. Cf. Crawfish. ] 1. (Zool.) One of the brachyuran Crustacea. They are mostly marine, and usually have a broad, short body, covered with a strong shell or carapace. The abdomen is small and curled up beneath the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The name is applied to all the Brachyura, and to certain Anomura, as the hermit crabs. Formerly, it was sometimes applied to Crustacea in general. Many species are edible, the blue crab of the Atlantic coast being one of the most esteemed. The large European edible crab is Cancer padurus. Soft-shelled crabs are blue crabs that have recently cast their shells. See Cancer; also, Box crab, Fiddler crab, Hermit crab, Spider crab, etc., under Box, Fiddler. etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The zodiacal constellation Cancer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. [ See Crab, a. ] (Bot.) A crab apple; -- so named from its harsh taste. [ 1913 Webster ]

When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick. [ Obs. ] Garrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mech.) (a) A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc. (b) A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc. (c) A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn. (d) A claw for anchoring a portable machine. [ 1913 Webster ]

Calling crab. (Zool.) See Fiddler., n., 2. --
Crab apple, a small, sour apple, of several kinds; also, the tree which bears it; as, the European crab apple (Pyrus Malus var. sylvestris); the Siberian crab apple (Pyrus baccata); and the American (Pyrus coronaria). --
Crab grass. (Bot.) (a) A grass (Digitaria sanguinalis syn. Panicum sanguinalis); -- called also finger grass. (b) A grass of the genus Eleusine (Eleusine Indica); -- called also dog's-tail grass, wire grass, etc. --
Crab louse (Zool.), a species of louse (Phthirius pubis), sometimes infesting the human body. --
Crab plover (Zool.), an Asiatic plover (Dromas ardeola). --
Crab's eyes, or
Crab's stones, masses of calcareous matter found, at certain seasons of the year, on either side of the stomach of the European crawfishes, and formerly used in medicine for absorbent and antacid purposes; the gastroliths. --
Crab spider (Zool.), one of a group of spiders (Laterigradæ); -- called because they can run backwards or sideways like a crab. --
Crab tree, the tree that bears crab applies. --
Crab wood, a light cabinet wood obtained in Guiana, which takes a high polish. McElrath. --
To catch a crab (Naut.), a phrase used of a rower: (a) when he fails to raise his oar clear of the water; (b) when he misses the water altogether in making a stroke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To make sour or morose; to embitter. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Sickness sours or crabs our nature. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To beat with a crabstick. [ Obs. ] J. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Naut.)To drift sidewise or to leeward, as a vessel. Ham. Nav. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Prob. from the same root as crab, n. ] Sour; rough; austere. [ 1913 Webster ]

The crab vintage of the neighb'ring coast. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Crab, n. ] 1. Characterized by or manifesting, sourness, peevishness, or moroseness; harsh; cross; cynical; -- applied to feelings, disposition, or manners. [ 1913 Webster ]

Crabbed age and youth can not live together. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Characterized by harshness or roughness; unpleasant; -- applied to things; as, a crabbed taste. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Obscure; difficult; perplexing; trying; as, a crabbed author. “Crabbed eloquence.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

How charming is divine philosophy!
Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Cramped; irregular; as, crabbed handwriting.

-- Crab"bed*ly, adv. -- Crab"bed*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who catches crabs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act or art of catching crabs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Falconry) The fighting of hawks with each other. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Woolen Manuf.) A process of scouring cloth between rolls in a machine. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Somewhat sour or cross. [ 1913 Webster ]

The whips of the most crabbish Satyristes. Decker. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Crabbed; difficult, or perplexing. “Persius is crabby, because ancient.” Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) (a) The cobia. (b) An etheostomoid fish of the southern United States (Hadropterus nigrofasciatus). (c) A small European heron (Ardea minuta, and other allied species). [ 1913 Webster ]