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Crab vs Duck - What's the difference?

crab | duck |

As a noun 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 or crab can be the crab apple or wild apple or crab can be the tree species , native of south america or crab can be short for carabiner.

As a verb crab

is to fish for crabs or crab can be (obsolete) to irritate, make surly or sour.

As a proper noun duck is

.

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
    Related terms
    * craber * crabier * crabite * crab-skuit * panier de crabes

    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

    * * ----

    duck

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To lower the head or body in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
  • To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
  • * Fielding
    • Adams, after ducking the squire twice or thrice, leaped out of the tub.
  • To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
  • * Dryden
    • In Tiber ducking thrice by break of day.
  • To lower (the head) in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
    • (Jonathan Swift)
  • To bow.
  • * Shakespeare
    • The learned pate / Ducks to the golden fool.
  • To evade doing something.
  • To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly.
  • * 2007 , Alexander U. Case, Sound FX: unlocking the creative potential of recording studio effects (page 183)
    • The music is ducked under the voice.
    Synonyms
    * (to lower the head) duck down * (to lower into the water) dip, dunk * (to lower in order to prevent it from being struck by something) dip
    Derived terms
    * duck and cover * duck out

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) ducke, dukke, doke, dokke, douke, duke, from (etyl) duce, .

    Noun

  • An aquatic bird of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet.
  • Specifically'', an adult female duck; ''contrasted with'' drake ''and with duckling.
  • (uncountable) The flesh of a duck used as food.
  • (cricket) A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (short for duck's egg, since the digit "0" is round like an egg.)
  • (slang) A playing card with the rank of two.
  • A partly-flooded cave passage with limited air space.
  • A building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related.
    • A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly.
  • * 2007 , Cynthia Blair, "It Happened on Long Island: 1988—Suffolk County Adopts the Big Duck," , 21 Feb.:
    • The Big Duck has influenced the world of architecture; any building that is shaped like its product is called a ‘duck ’.
  • A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.
  • (US) A cairn used to mark a trail.
    • Hyponyms
    * (bird) Anas platyrhynchos (domesticus), Mallard-derived domestic breeds, including Pekin, Rouen, Campbell, Call, Runner; Cairina moschata, Muscovy duck
    Derived terms
    * break one’s duck, break the duck * Burdekin duck * dabbling duck * decoy duck * diving duck * duck-arsed * duckbill * duck-billed * duckboard * duck-footed * duckling * duckness * ducks and drakes * ducks on the pond * hunt where the ducks are * lame duck * Lord love a duck * odd duck * Peking duck * rubber duck * * shelduck * sitting duck * take to something like a duck to water

    See also

    * anatine * drake * goose * quack * swan * waterfowl

    References

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

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) doek, from (etyl) doeck, .

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l) (Scotland)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A tightly-woven cotton fabric used as sailcloth.
  • * 1912 , , "The Woman At The Store", from Selected Short Stories :
    • He was dressed in a Jaeger vest—a pair of blue duck trousers, fastened round the waist with a plaited leather belt.
  • Trousers made of such material.
  • *1918 , (Rebecca West), The Return of the Soldier , Virago 2014, p. 56:
  • *:And they would go up and find old Allington, in white ducks , standing in the fringe of long grasses and cow-parsley on the other edge of the island […].

    • Etymology 4

    (central England). From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A term of endearment; pet; darling.
    • And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck (William Shakespeare - The Life of King Henry the Fifth, Act 2, Scene 3).
  • Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger).
    • Ay up duck , ow'a'tha?

    Synonyms

    * See

    Derived terms

    * ay up me duck

    References

    * '>citation 1000 English basic words English terms with multiple etymologies English affectionate terms ----