crawfish

[ kraw-fish ]
See synonyms for crawfish on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural (especially collectively) craw·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) craw·fish·es.
verb (used without object),craw·fished, craw·fish·ing.
  1. Informal. to back out or retreat from a position or undertaking.

Origin of crawfish

1
1615–25; earlier crafish, cravish, cravis, variant outcomes of Middle French crevicecrayfish

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

How to use crawfish in a sentence

  • If Darby was an angel I'd mash him under my heel just the same; we've gone too far to start crawfishing.

    The Sky Line of Spruce | Edison Marshall
  • Jerry at first was inclined to scepticism, and accused Bud of crawfishing at the last minute.

    Cow-Country | B. M. Bower
  • Then he had the impertinence to stroll down to the brook, and rally the new addition to the crawfishing party.

    Two Knapsacks | John Campbell
  • But when you talked with me a little while ago you were crawfishing!

    Blow The Man Down | Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for crawfish

crawfish

/ (ˈkrɔːˌfɪʃ) /


nounplural -fish or -fishes
  1. a variant (esp US) of crayfish (def. 2)

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