crayfish
Americannoun
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Also called crawdad, crawdaddy. any freshwater decapod crustacean of the genera Astacus and Cambarus, closely related to but smaller than the lobsters.
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any of several similar marine crustaceans, especially the spiny lobster.
noun
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any freshwater decapod crustacean of the genera Astacus and Cambarus, resembling a small lobster
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any of various similar crustaceans, esp the spiny lobster
Usage
What does crayfish mean? A crayfish is a freshwater crustacean related to the lobster but smaller. Crayfish is also used as the name of several similar saltwater crustaceans, especially the spiny lobster (also called the rock lobster). The plural of crayfish can be crayfish or crayfishes. When used as a plural, crayfish typically refers to them collectively, while crayfishes usually refers to two or more kinds or species (but this isn’t always the case). Crayfish aren’t fish—they’re shellfish. Other types of crustaceans include crabs, lobsters, and shrimp. There are several different species of both freshwater and saltwater crayfish. Freshwater ones are also referred to by the names crawfish, crawdad, and crawdaddy. Use of these terms varies by region. Example: When I was a kid, we used to catch crayfish in the creek.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of crayfish
1350–1400; alteration (by folk etymology) of Middle English crevis < Middle French crevice < Old High German krebiz crab 1
Compare meaning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We see Adrian at the film’s beginning as a small child, catching crayfish and other underwater creatures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
The River Lugg is home to six protected and endangered species, including common otter, Atlantic salmon, white clawed crayfish, brook lamprey, shad and bullhead.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
A little too much -- American expats bully European crayfish and spread disease, driving many local species to the brink.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
As with humans, crayfish and capybaras, if you look you’ll find the biochemical markers of the poor bees’ cognitive change.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2024
The water is gelid, murky; down there, past where the sand drops away and it’s deep, there are old rocks covered with slime, sunken logs, crayfish, leeches, huge pike with undershot jaws.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Farther east a gap occurs in the distribution and no crayfishes are met with till the basin of the Amur is reached, where a group of species occurs, extending into northern Japan.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6 "Coucy-le-Château" to "Crocodile" by Various
The crayfishes would leave these little retreats whenever disturbed, and swim away down stream out of sight.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 446, July 19, 1884 by Various
Upon what do you base your answer?Name two points in which earthworms and crayfishes are alike.
From A Guide for the Study of Animals by Lucas, Frederic
Name three in which they differ.How are crayfishes caught for market?
From A Guide for the Study of Animals by Lucas, Frederic
And yet, objectively considered, there is no reason to be less disgusted at the eating of crayfishes than when some other kind of animal is eaten in the same manner.
From The Sexual Life of the Child by Paul, Eden
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.
