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Crab vs Clam - What's the difference?

crab | clam |

As nouns the difference between crab and clam

is that crab is a crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace while clam is a bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; as, the long clam (species: Mya arenaria), the quahog or round clam (Venus mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (species: Spisula solidissima), and other species of the United States. The name is said to have been given originally to the species: Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.

As verbs the difference between crab and clam

is that crab is to fish for crabs while clam is to dig for clams.

crab

English

(wikipedia crab)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) crabbe, from (etyl)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=But Richmond
  • A bad-tempered person.
  • .
  • (label) A playing card with the rank of three.
  • (label) A position in rowing where the oar is pushed under the rigger by the force of the water.
  • A defect in an outwardly normal object that may render it inconvenient and troublesome to use.
  • * 1915 , , (Of Human Bondage) , :
  • -- "I suppose you wouldn't like to do a locum for a month on the South coast? Three guineas a week with board and lodging." -- "I wouldn't mind," said Philip. -- "It's at Farnley, in Dorsetshire. Doctor South. You'd have to go down at once; his assistant has developed mumps. I believe it's a very pleasant place." There was something in the secretary's manner that puzzled Philip. It was a little doubtful. -- "What's the crab in it?" he asked.
  • * 1940 , (Horace Annesley Vachell), Little Tyrannies
  • Arrested by the low price of another “desirable residence”, I asked “What's the crab'?” The agent assured me that there was no ' crab . I fell in love with this house at sight. Happily, I discovered that it was reputed to be haunted.
    Derived terms
    * Alaska crab, Alaska king crab, Alaskan king crab * arrow crab * black crab * blue crab * blue swimmer crab * box-crab * catch a crab * Chinese crab * Chinese mitten crab * Christmas Island red crab * circular crab * coconut crab * come off crabs * crabbed * crabber * crabbery * crabbing * crabbish * crabby * crab cactus * crab canon, crab-canon * crab-catcher * crab-claw * crab-eater * crab-eating * crab face, crab-face * crab-faced * crab-favored, crab-favoured * crab-farming * crab-fish * crab-grass, crabgrass * crab-harrow * crab-hole * crab-holed * crablet * crab-like, crablike * crabling * crab-lobster * crab louse, crab-louse * crab mentality * crabmeat * Crab Nebula * crabologist * crab-pot * crab-pot valve * crab rock * crab-roller * crab's claw * crab's eye, crab's-eye * crab-shell * crab-sidle * crab-snouted * crab spider, crab-spider * crab-step * crab stick * crab-stone * crab-weed * crabwise * crab yaws * cut a crab * Dungeness crab * fiddler crab * flower crab * ghost crab * green crab * halloween crab * hard-shell crab * hermit crab * horseshoe crab * Jonah crab * king crab, king-crab * lady crab * land crab, land-crab * mangrove crab * mantis crab * masked crab * mole crab * mud crab * nobody-crab * oyster crab * palm crab * pea crab, pea-crab * porcelain crab * purse crab * racing crab * river crab * robber-crab * rock crab * sand crab * sea-crab * sentinel crab * shame-faced crab * shore crab, shore-crab * soft-shell crab * soldier crab, soldier-crab * spider crab, spider-crab * stilt crab * stone crab * strawberry crab * Tasmanian giant crab * thumbnail crab * tree crab * turn out crabs * velvet crab * white crab

    Verb

  • To fish for crabs.
  • (transitive, US, slang) To ruin.
  • * 1940 , (Raymond Chandler), Farewell, My Lovely , Penguin 2010, p. 224:
  • ‘Just so we understand each other,’ he said after a pause. ‘If you crab this case, you'll be in a jam.’
  • To complain.
  • (intransitive, nautical, aviation) To drift sideways or to leeward (by analogy with the movement of a crab).
  • To navigate (an aircraft, e.g. a glider) sideways against an air current in order to maintain a straight-line course.
  • (obsolete, World War I), to fly slightly off the straight-line course towards an enemy aircraft, as the machine guns on early aircraft did not allow firing through the propeller disk.
  • (rare) To back out of something.
  • *
  • Derived terms
    * crabber * crabbing

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) crabbe, of Germanic origin, plausibly from Scandinavian, cognate with Swedish dialect scrabba

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The crab apple or wild apple.
  • * 1610 , , act 2 scene 2
  • I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow;
    And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts;
  • The tree bearing crab apples, which has a dogbane-like bitter bark with medical use.
  • A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick.
  • (Garrick)
  • A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc.
  • A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc.
  • A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn.
  • A claw for anchoring a portable machine.
  • Synonyms
    * (crab apple) crab apple * (tree) crab apple
    Derived terms
    * cherry crab * Chinese crab * crab apple, crab-apple, crabapple * crab-bat * crab-knob * crab-staff * crab-stick, crabstick * crab-stock * crab-tree * garland crab * Siberian crab

    Verb

    (crabb)
  • (obsolete) To irritate, make surly or sour
  • To be ill-tempered; to complain or find fault.
  • * Glanvill
  • Sickness sours or crabs our nature.
  • (British dialect) To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick
  • Etymology 3

    Possibly a corruption of the genus name

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The tree species , native of South America.
  • Derived terms
    * crab-nut * crab-oil

    Etymology 4

    Alternation of carabiner

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Short for carabiner.
  • References

    * Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523 *

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    clam

    English

    (wikipedia clam)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; as, the long clam (, a huge East Indian bivalve.
  • * , chapter=3
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams' thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. ' Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • Strong pincers or forceps.
  • A kind of vise, usually of wood.
  • (US, slang) A dollar (usually used in the plural). Possibly originating from the term wampum.
  • (slang, derogatory) A Scientologist.
  • * {{quote-newsgroup, year=1998, date=23 February, author=
  • jesparolini, title=CO$ Celebrities: USEFUL IDIOTS citation

    Verb

    (clamm)
  • To dig for clams.
  • Derived terms

    * American jackknife clam * Atlantic jackknife clam * bamboo clam * clam chowder * clamshell * clam up * giant clam * piss clam * razor clam

    See also

    * clammy

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.
  • (Nares)

    Verb

    (clamm)
  • To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.
  • (Nares)

    Etymology 3

    Noun

  • clamminess; moisture
  • * Carlyle
  • The clam of death.

    Verb

    (clamm)
  • To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.
  • (Dryden)
  • To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.
  • * L'Estrange
  • A swarm of wasps got into a honey pot, and there they cloyed and clammed themselves till there was no getting out again.
    (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----