Definition of Crawfish

1. Noun. Tiny lobster-like crustaceans usually boiled briefly.

Exact synonyms: Crawdad, Crayfish, Ecrevisse
Group relationships: Ecrevisse, Old World Crayfish, American Crayfish
Generic synonyms: Shellfish

2. Verb. Make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity. "The aggressive investment company pulled in its horns"

3. Noun. Small freshwater decapod crustacean that resembles a lobster.
Exact synonyms: Crawdad, Crawdaddy, Crayfish
Generic synonyms: Decapod, Decapod Crustacean
Group relationships: Astacidae, Astacura, Family Astacidae
Specialized synonyms: Ecrevisse, Old World Crayfish, American Crayfish

4. Noun. Large edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace but lacking the large pincers of true lobsters.
Exact synonyms: Crayfish, Langouste, Rock Lobster, Sea Crawfish, Spiny Lobster
Generic synonyms: Lobster
Group relationships: Genus Palinurus, Palinurus
Terms within: Crayfish, Langouste, Rock Lobster, Spiny Lobster

Definition of Crawfish

1. n. Any crustacean of the family Astacidæ, 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.

Definition of Crawfish

1. Noun. (dialect Southern US) (alternative form of crayfish) ¹

2. Verb. (dialect Southern US) To backpedal, desert or withdraw, used with ''out'' ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Crawfish

1. to back out or retreat [v -ED, -ING, -ES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Crawfish

craver
cravers
craves
cravest
craveth
craving
cravingly
cravingness
cravings
craw
craw-craw
crawdad
crawdaddies
crawdaddy
crawdads
crawfish (current term)
crawfish out
crawfished
crawfishes
crawfishing
crawfordite
crawk
crawked
crawking
crawks
crawl
crawl in
crawl space
crawl spaces
crawl with

Literary usage of Crawfish

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. An American Glossary by Richard Hopwood Thornton (1912)
"1909 The witness continued : " I didn't want to crawfish. ... Well, crawfish is good enough for common people."— Crazy as a bed-bug. ..."

2. Algic Researches: Comprising Inquiries Respecting the Mental Characteristics by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1839)
"The crawfish would no longer venture near the shore, and the racoon was on the ... Knowing the crawfish to feed on worms, he procured a quantity of old ..."

3. Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie L. McLaughlin (1916)
"The crawfish then pinched him on the ribs and tickled him so that the ... And he hurried back to the crawfish village and reported his find to the chief. ..."

4. International Trade: Issues and Effects of Implementing the Continued by Loren Yager (2006)
"Several recipient respondents credited CDSOA with saving the domestic crawfish processing industry. Because of the program, they said, businesses remained ..."

5. The National Military Park, Chickamauga-Chattanooga: An Historical Guide by Henry Van Ness Boynton, Joseph William Kirkley (1895)
"The most natural one is to start from crawfish Springs, thirteen miles from ... To the Field from crawfish Springs. Those who desire to visit the extreme ..."

6. The Pantropheon: Or, History of Food and Its Preparation : from the Earliest by Alexis Soyer (1853)
"Scarcely was he disembarked when some fishermen brought him a few sea-crawfish ; he examines, rejects them, and demands finer ones to be brought. ..."

7. Goin' Fishin': Weather and Feed Facts; the Fresh-water Game Fish; the by Carroll Blaine Cook (1920)
"The answer is, give them a chance at a half-grown crawfish, ... When a bass has a hankering for the white meat of the crawfish he is going to snoot around ..."

8. An American Glossary by Richard Hopwood Thornton (1912)
"1909 The witness continued : " I didn't want to crawfish. ... Well, crawfish is good enough for common people."— Crazy as a bed-bug. ..."

9. Algic Researches: Comprising Inquiries Respecting the Mental Characteristics by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1839)
"The crawfish would no longer venture near the shore, and the racoon was on the ... Knowing the crawfish to feed on worms, he procured a quantity of old ..."

10. Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie L. McLaughlin (1916)
"The crawfish then pinched him on the ribs and tickled him so that the ... And he hurried back to the crawfish village and reported his find to the chief. ..."

11. International Trade: Issues and Effects of Implementing the Continued by Loren Yager (2006)
"Several recipient respondents credited CDSOA with saving the domestic crawfish processing industry. Because of the program, they said, businesses remained ..."

12. The National Military Park, Chickamauga-Chattanooga: An Historical Guide by Henry Van Ness Boynton, Joseph William Kirkley (1895)
"The most natural one is to start from crawfish Springs, thirteen miles from ... To the Field from crawfish Springs. Those who desire to visit the extreme ..."

13. The Pantropheon: Or, History of Food and Its Preparation : from the Earliest by Alexis Soyer (1853)
"Scarcely was he disembarked when some fishermen brought him a few sea-crawfish ; he examines, rejects them, and demands finer ones to be brought. ..."

14. Goin' Fishin': Weather and Feed Facts; the Fresh-water Game Fish; the by Carroll Blaine Cook (1920)
"The answer is, give them a chance at a half-grown crawfish, ... When a bass has a hankering for the white meat of the crawfish he is going to snoot around ..."

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