What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Crab vs Seagull - What's the difference?

crab | seagull |

As nouns the difference between crab and seagull

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 seagull is any of several white, often dark backed birds of the family Laridae having long pointed wings and short legs.

As verbs the difference between crab and seagull

is that crab is to fish for crabs while seagull is to run in the back line rather than concentrate on primary positional duties in open play.

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

    * * ----

    seagull

    Alternative forms

    * sea gull * sea-gull

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of several white, often dark backed birds of the family Laridae having long pointed wings and short legs.
  • (orthography) The symbol , which combines under a letter as a sort of accent.
  • (UK, slang) A fan or member of .
  • Synonyms

    * (bird) gull

    Derived terms

    * seagulling

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To run in the back line rather than concentrate on primary positional duties in open play.
  • * '>citation
  • * 2002 , " Sharks beached at Stradey", BBC Sport , 13 December 2002:
  • On hand was seagulling number eight Dave Hodges to cross for the all-important try.
  • * 2003 , Greg Growden, " Australia survives scare", The Age , 2 November 2003:
  • That occurred in the 12th minute when flanker George Smith, seagulling out wide, enjoyed the rewards of a two-man overlap to score.
  • * 2003 , Mark Fuller, " Impeccable France outclasses Ireland", The Age , 10 November 2003:
  • France was full of running and continued to spread the ball wide or kick in behind the defence, where towering right-winger Aurelien Rougerie and the seagulling French back row had a height advantage contesting the high ball.
  • * 2011 , Darren Walton, " Injuries sour Wallabies 67-5 win over USA", MSN NZ , 24 September 2011:
  • Samo seagulled for Australia's final try two minutes from time.
  • To use a outboard.
  • * '>citation
  • (New Zealand) To work as a non-union casual stevedore.
  • * 1964 , O. E. Middleton, A Walk on the Beach , M. Joseph (1964), page 215:
  • Bill had been seagulling on the wharf since he got back from the war.
  • * 1981 , Parliamentary Debates , Volume 437, page 374:
  • At that time many of them seagulled on the Mt Maunganui wharf to make a crust in order to carry on with their ideal of kiwifruit as a major exporting industry.
  • * 1993 , Beryl Fletcher, The Iron Mouth , Spinifex Press (1993), ISBN 9781875559220, page 60:
  • The only stories he told of his life were of how hard he had worked, seagulling on the wharf, standing in blood and guts at the Works, loading trucks with sacks of fertiliser and grain at the Farmers' Co-op.

    Anagrams

    *