From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Crawfish \Craw"fish`\ (kr[add]"f[i^]sh`), Crayfish \Cray"fish`\
(kr[=a]"f[i^]sh`), n.; pl. {-fishes} or {-fish}. [Corrupted
fr. OE. crevis, creves, OF. crevice, F. ['e]crevisse, fr.
OHG. krebiz crab, G. krebs. See {Crab}. The ending -fish
arose from confusion with E. fish.] (Zool.)
Any decapod crustacean of the family {Astacid[ae]} (genera
{Cambarus} and {Cambarus}), 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}.
Syn: crawdad, crawdaddy.
[1913 Webster]
2. tiny lobsterlike crustaceans usually boiled briefly.
Syn: crawdad, ecrevisse.
[WordNet 1.5]
3. a large edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace
but lacking the large pincers of true lobsters.
Syn: spiny lobster, langouste, rock lobster, crayfish, sea
crawfish.
[WordNet 1.5]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
crawfish \crawfish\ v. i.
to back out in a humilating manner; as, We'll have to
crawfish out from meeting with him.
Syn: retreat, back out, back away, crawfish out, withdraw.
[WordNet 1.5]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
crawfish
n 1: tiny lobster-like crustaceans usually boiled briefly [syn:
{crayfish}, {crawfish}, {crawdad}, {ecrevisse}]
2: small freshwater decapod crustacean that resembles a lobster
[syn: {crayfish}, {crawfish}, {crawdad}, {crawdaddy}]
3: large edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace but
lacking the large pincers of true lobsters [syn: {spiny
lobster}, {langouste}, {rock lobster}, {crawfish},
{crayfish}, {sea crawfish}]
v 1: 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" [syn: {retreat},
{pull back}, {back out}, {back away}, {crawfish}, {crawfish
out}, {pull in one's horns}, {withdraw}]
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