crawfish : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: crawfish	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for crawfish
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
crawfish n tiny lobster-like crustaceans usually boiled briefly [syn: crayfish, crawfish, crawdad, ecrevisse] small freshwater decapod crustacean that resembles a lobster Synonym(s): crayfish, crawfish, crawdad, crawdaddy large edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace but lacking the large pincers of true lobsters Synonym(s): spiny lobster, langouste, rock lobster, crawfish, 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" Synonym(s): retreat, pull back, back out, back away, crawfish, crawfish out, pull in one's horns, withdraw
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Crawfish \Craw"fish`\ (kr[add]"f[icr]sh`), Crayfish \Cray"fish`\ (kr[amac]"f[icr]sh`), n.; pl. {-fishes} or {-fish}. [Corrupted fr. OE. crevis, creves, OF. crevice, F. [82]crevisse, fr. OHG. krebiz crab, G. krebs. See {Crab}. The ending -fish arose from confusion with E. fish.] (Zo[94]l.) Any crustacean of the family {Astacid[91]}, 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}.