fiddler crab

noun

any small, burrowing crab of the genus Uca, characterized by one greatly enlarged claw in the male.

Origin of fiddler crab

An Americanism dating back to 1700–10

Words Nearby fiddler crab

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fiddler crab in a sentence

On the northwest coast of Taiwan, nestled between mudflats teeming with fiddler crabs and sweet-scented persimmon orchards, sits the world’s most important company that you’ve probably never heard of.
Inside the Taiwan Firm That Makes the World’s Tech Run | Charlie Campbell | October 1, 2021 | Time
The curious crustacean known as the "fiddler crab" is unusually numerous in the marshes of Long Island, this summer.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 23, September 3, 1870 | Various
But the Martian was scuttling away like a huge fiddler crab, the Josmian clutched in one scrawny fist.
One Purple Hope! | Henry Hasse
Ang agúkuy magtakilid nga maglakaw, The fiddler crab walks sideways.
A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan | John U. Wolff
The big arm of the fiddler crab, held across its face, closes its burrow like a door.
Zoology: The Science of Animal Life | Ernest Ingersoll

British Dictionary definitions for fiddler crab

fiddler crab

noun

any of various burrowing crabs of the genus Uca of American coastal regions, the males of which have one of their anterior pincer-like claws very much enlarged

Origin of fiddler crab

C19: referring to the rapid fiddling movement of the enlarged anterior claw of the males, used to attract females

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

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