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definitions

crabwise

[ krab-wahyz ]
/ ˈkræbˌwaɪz /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crabwise ON THESAURUS.COM

adverb

sideways: patrons edging crabwise along the crowded row of theater seats.

RELATED WORDS

oblique, side, obliquely, sidelong, edgeways, flanking, sideward, skirting, alongside, aside, athwart, indirectly, laterally, slanting, sloping, aslant, aslope, broadside, slantwise

Nearby words

crabeater, crabgrass, crabmeat, crabs, crabstick, crabwise, crabwood, crac, crack, crack a book, crack a bottle

Origin of crabwise

First recorded in 1900–05; crab1 + -wise
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for crabwise

  • "Oh—well—gee—of course—" sighed Graff, as he went out, crabwise.

    Babbitt|Sinclair Lewis

  • Mr. Wayne stiffened and wheeled; Mr. Briggs sidled hastily toward the doorway, crabwise; the poet choked back the word, Phup!

    Iole|Robert W. Chambers

  • Instead, he sidled, crabwise, into the middle of the street.

    H. R.|Edwin Lefevre

British Dictionary definitions for crabwise

crabwise

/ (ˈkræbˌwaɪz) /

adjective, adverb

(of motion) sideways; like a crab
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