Crayfish

4 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]:

  Crayfish \Cray"fish\ (kr[=a]"f[i^]sh), n. (Zool.)
     See {Crawfish}.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [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}]
       [also: {crayfishes} (pl)]

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