hard-shell crab

noun

a crab, especially an edible crab, that has not recently molted and has a hard shell.

Origin of hard-shell crab

First recorded in 1900–05

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for hard-shell crab

hard-shell crab

noun

a crab, esp of the edible species Cancer pagurus, that has not recently moulted and therefore has a hard shellCompare soft-shell 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