Crawfish

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.] (Zool.)
     Any decapod crustacean of the family {Astacid[ae]} (genera


     {Cambarus} and {Cambarus}), 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}.
  
     Syn: crawdad, crawdaddy.
          [1913 Webster]
  
     2. tiny lobsterlike crustaceans usually boiled briefly.
  
     Syn: crawdad, ecrevisse.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     3. a large edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace
        but lacking the large pincers of true lobsters.
  
     Syn: spiny lobster, langouste, rock lobster, crayfish, sea
          crawfish.
          [WordNet 1.5]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  crawfish \crawfish\ v. i.
     to back out in a humilating manner; as, We'll have to
     crawfish out from meeting with him.
  
     Syn: retreat, back out, back away, crawfish out, withdraw.
          [WordNet 1.5]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  crawfish
       n 1: tiny lobster-like crustaceans usually boiled briefly [syn: {crayfish},
             {crawdad}, {ecrevisse}]
       2: small freshwater decapod crustacean that resembles a lobster
          [syn: {crayfish}, {crawdad}, {crawdaddy}]
       3: large edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace but
          lacking the large pincers of true lobsters [syn: {spiny
          lobster}, {langouste}, {rock lobster}, {crayfish}, {sea
          crawfish}]
       v : make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity;
           "We'll have to crawfish out from meeting with him"; "He
           backed out of his earlier promise"; "The aggressive
           investment company pulled in its horns" [syn: {retreat},
           {pull back}, {back out}, {back away}, {crawfish out}, {pull
           in one's horns}, {withdraw}]
       [also: {crawfishes} (pl)]