CRAB

Definitions for the word, crab

(a.) A claw for anchoring a portable machine.

(a.) A crab apple; -- so named from its harsh taste.

(a.) A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick.

(a.) A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc.

(a.) A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn.

(a.) A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc.

(a.) Sour; rough; austere.

(n.) One of the brachyuran Crustacea. They are mostly marine, and usually have a broad, short body, covered with a strong shell or carapace. The abdomen is small and curled up beneath the body.

(n.) The zodiacal constellation Cancer.

(v. i.) To drift sidewise or to leeward, as a vessel.

(v. t.) To beat with a crabstick.

(v. t.) To make sour or morose; to embitter.