Get Affordable VMs - excellent virtual server hosting


browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
crayfish

more about crayfish

crayfish

 

  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Crayfish  \Cray"fish\  (kr[=a]"f[i^]sh),  n.  (Zo["o]l.) 
  See  {Crawfish}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Crawfish  \Craw"fish`\  (kr[add]"f[i^]sh`),  Crayfish  \Cray"fish`\ 
  (kr[=a]"f[i^]sh`),  n.;  pl  {-fishes}  or  {-fish}.  [Corrupted 
  fr  OE  crevis,  creves,  OF  crevice,  F.  ['e]crevisse,  fr 
  OHG.  krebiz  crab,  G.  krebs.  See  {Crab}.  The  ending  -fish 
  arose  from  confusion  with  E.  fish.]  (Zo["o]l.) 
  Any  crustacean  of  the  family  {Astacid[ae]},  resembling  the 
  lobster,  but  smaller,  and  found  in  fresh  waters.  Crawfishes 
  are  esteemed  very  delicate  food  both  in  Europe  and  America. 
  The  North  American  species  are  numerous  and  mostly  belong  to 
  the  genus  {Cambarus}.  The  blind  crawfish  of  the  Mammoth  Cave 
  is  {Cambarus  pellucidus}.  The  common  European  species  is 
  {Astacus  fluviatilis}. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  crayfish 
  n  1:  warm-water  lobsters  without  claws;  those  from  Australia  and 
  South  Africa  usually  marketed  as  frozen  tails;  caught 
  also  in  Florida  and  California  [syn:  {spiny  lobster},  {langouste}, 
  {rock  lobster}] 
  2:  tiny  lobster-like  crustaceans  usually  boiled  briefly  [syn:  {crawfish}, 
  {crawdad},  {ecrevisse}] 
  3:  small  freshwater  decapod  crustacean  that  resembles  a  lobster 
  [syn:  {crawfish},  {crawdad},  {crawdaddy}] 
  4:  large  edible  marine  crustacean  having  a  spiny  carapace  but 
  lacking  the  large  pincers  of  true  lobsters  [syn:  {spiny 
  lobster},  {langouste},  {rock  lobster},  {crawfish},  {sea 
  crawfish}] 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  CRAYFISH,  n.  A  small  crustacean  very  much  resembling  the  lobster,  but 
  less  indigestible. 
 
  In  this  small  fish  I  take  it  that  human  wisdom  is  admirably 
  figured  and  symbolized;  for  whereas  the  crayfish  doth  move  only 
  backward,  and  can  have  only  retrospection,  seeing  naught  but  the 
  perils  already  passed,  so  the  wisdom  of  man  doth  not  enable  him  to 
  avoid  the  follies  that  beset  his  course,  but  only  to  apprehend 
  their  nature  afterward. 
  Sir  James  Merivale




more about crayfish