crabstick

[ krab-stik ]

noun
  1. a stick, cane, or club made of wood, especially of the crab tree.

  2. an ill-tempered, grouchy person; crosspatch.

Origin of crabstick

1
First recorded in 1695–1705; crab2 + stick1

Words Nearby crabstick

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use crabstick in a sentence

  • The rider applied the crabstick more vigorously than before.

    Self-control | Mary Brunton
  • What an old crabstick like me can see in you is just the very last thing that a dainty young girl wants.

    Love and Intrigue | Friedrich Schiller
  • crabstick would go down and fetch for her a cup of tea,—and just a morsel of something to eat.

    The Eustace Diamonds | Anthony Trollope
  • Lizzie jumped out of bed, and admitted her friend, admitting also Patience crabstick.

    The Eustace Diamonds | Anthony Trollope
  • All which crabstick knew, and would often declare her missus to be "of all missuses the most slyest and least come-at-able."

    The Eustace Diamonds | Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for crabstick

crabstick

/ (ˈkræbˌstɪk) /


noun
  1. a stick, cane, or cudgel made of crab-apple wood

  2. informal a bad-tempered person

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