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crab canon

American  

noun

Music.

  1. a canon in which the imitating voice is the theme in retrograde motion.

crab canon British  

noun

  1. Also called: retrograde canon.   canon cancrizans.  music a canon in which the imitating voice repeats the notes of the theme in reverse order

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of crab canon

from the mistaken medieval notion that crabs move backwards

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.