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hermit crab

noun
  1. any of numerous crabs, especially of the genera Pagurus and Eupagurus, that protect their soft uncovered abdomen by occupying the castoff shell of a univalve mollusk.
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Origin of hermit crab

First recorded in 1725–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hermit crab

Historical Examples

  • On the coast also the Raven seeks to obtain possession of the Hermit-crab.

    The Industries of Animals

    Frdric Houssay

  • It is plain from its anatomy that the Hermit-crab was not always a Hermit-crab.

  • But the Hermit-crab, be it remembered, is in no real sense a parasite.

  • A tribe of Decapod Crustacea, of which the Hermit-crab is the type.

  • We soon discovered crab-claws projecting from its shell, and recognized it as a hermit-crab, an original freebooter.

British Dictionary definitions for hermit crab

hermit crab

noun
  1. any small soft-bodied decapod crustacean of the genus Pagurus and related genera, living in and carrying about the empty shells of whelks or similar molluscs
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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