crabbed
Use Crabbed in a sentence
ɪd adjective
1.
grouchy; ill-natured; irritable; churlish.
2.
perverse; contrary; obstinate.
3.
hard to understand; intricate and obscure.
4.
difficult to read or decipher, as handwriting.
00:10
Crabbed
is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
1.
any decapod crustacean of the suborder Brachyura, having the eyes on short stalks and a short, broad, more or less flattened body, the abdomen being small and folded under the thorax.
2.
any of various other crustaceans, as the hermit crab, or other animals, as the horseshoe crab, resembling the true crabs.
3.
( initial capital letter ) Astronomy, Astrology. the zodiacal constellation or sign Cancer.
4.
( initial capital letter ) Astronomy. the Crab Nebula.
5.
any of various mechanical contrivances for hoisting or pulling.
6.
Aeronautics. the maneuver of crabbing.
7.
8.
verb (used without object)
9.
to catch or attempt to catch crabs.
10.
to move sideways, diagonally, or obliquely, especially with short, abrupt bursts of speed; scuttle.
11.
Aeronautics. (of an aircraft) to head partly into the wind to compensate for drift.
12.
Nautical. to drift or advance with some movement sideways, especially when under tow.
verb (used with object)
Idioms 13.
to move (a vehicle or object) sideways, diagonally, or obliquely, especially with short, abrupt movements.
14.
Aeronautics. to head (an aircraft) partly into the wind to compensate for drift.
15.
catch a crab, to make a faulty stroke in rowing, so that the oar strikes the water forcibly on the backstroke.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English crabbe, Old English crabba; cognate with Dutch krab, Old Norse krabbi; akin to German Krebs
before 1000; Middle English crabbe, Old English crabba; cognate with Dutch krab, Old Norse krabbi; akin to German Krebs
Related forms
crab·like, adjective
noun
1.
Informal. an ill-tempered or grouchy person.
verb (used without object)
2.
Informal. to find fault; complain.
3.
(of hawks) to claw each other.
verb (used with object)
4.
Informal. to find fault with.
5.
to make ill-tempered or grouchy; embitter.
6.
(of a hawk) to claw (another hawk).
7.
Slang. to spoil.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To crabbed
Collins
World English Dictionary
crab1 (kræb) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | fiddler crab soft-shell crab pea crab See also oyster crab any chiefly marine decapod crustacean of the genus Cancer and related genera (section Brachyura), having a broad flattened carapace covering the cephalothorax, beneath which is folded the abdomen. The first pair of limbs are modified as pincersRelated: cancroid |
| 2. | any of various similar or related arthropods, such as the hermit crab and horseshoe crab |
| 3. | short for crab louse |
| 4. | a manoeuvre in which an aircraft flies slightly into the crosswind to compensate for drift |
| 5. | a mechanical lifting device, esp the travelling hoist of a gantry crane |
| 6. | wrestling See Boston crab |
| 7. | rowing catch a crab to make a stroke in which the oar either misses the water or digs too deeply, causing the rower to fall backwards |
| —vb , crabs, crabbing, crabbed | |
| 8. | (intr) to hunt or catch crabs |
| 9. | (tr) to fly (an aircraft) slightly into a crosswind to compensate for drift |
| 10. | (intr) nautical to move forwards with a slight sideways motion, as to overcome an offsetting current |
| 11. | (intr) to move sideways |
| Related: cancroid | |
| [Old English crabba; related to Old Norse krabbi, Old High German krebiz crab, Dutch krabben to scratch] | |
| crab2 (kræb) | |
| —vb , crabs, crabbing, crabbed | |
| 1. | (intr) to find fault; grumble |
| 2. | chiefly (US) (tr) to spoil (esp in the phrase crab someone's act) |
| —n | |
| 3. | an irritable person |
| 4. | (Austral) draw the crabs to attract unwelcome attention |
| [C16: probably back formation from | |
| crab3 (kræb) | |
| —n | |
| short for crab apple | |
| [C15: perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish skrabbe crab apple] | |
| Crab (kræb) | |
| —n | |
| the Crab the constellation Cancer, the fourth sign of the zodiac | |
| crabbed (ˈkræbɪd) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | surly; irritable; perverse |
| 2. | (esp of handwriting) cramped and hard to decipher |
| [C13: probably from | |
| 'crabbedly | |
| —adv | |
| 'crabbedness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
crab
O.E. crabba, from a general Gmc. root (cf. Low Ger. krabben "to scratch, claw"). The constellation name is attested in Eng. from c.1000; the Crab Nebula (1868), however, is in Taurus, and is so called for its shape. Crab "fruit of the wild apple tree" (early 15c.) may be from unrelated Scandinavian scrab,
of obscure origin. The combination of "bad-tempered, combative" and "sour" in the two words naturally yielded a meaning of "complain irritably," which is pre-1400. Crabgrass is c.1600, originally a marine grass of salt marshes; modern meaning is from 1743.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
crab definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
He was a little quicktempered and irascible, and people were apt to think him cross and crabbed, but he had a kind heart.
Under crabbed conditions, this risk increases proportionally to the increasing effective beam of the vessel.
His own crabbed sentences go far to exasperate even a reader who must needs respect his scholarship.
Nothing could be more detrimental to an ambitious work of history than to frame it in the crabbed terms of a contemporary spat.
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