lobster

[ lob-ster ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) lob·ster, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) lob·sters.

1. any of various large, edible, marine, usually dull-green, stalk-eyed decapod crustaceans of the family Homaridae, especially of the genus Homarus, having large, asymmetrical pincers on the first pair of legs, one used for crushing and the other for cutting and tearing: the shell turns bright red when cooked.
2. spiny lobster.
3. any of various similar crustaceans, as certain crayfishes.
4. the edible meat of these animals.

lobster

/ ˈlɒbstə /

noun

1. any of several large marine decapod crustaceans of the genus Homarus, esp H. vulgaris, occurring on rocky shores and having the first pair of limbs modified as large pincers
2. any of several similar crustaceans, esp the spiny lobster
3. the flesh of any of these crustaceans, eaten as a delicacy

Word History and Origins

Origin of lobster¹

before 1000; Middle English lopster, Old English loppestre literally, spidery creature ( loppe spider ( lob ¹ ) + -stre -ster ); lop ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of lobster¹

Old English loppestre, from loppe spider

Example Sentences

In the 1800s, Americans considered lobsters to be trash food and fed them to prisoners.

From Time

What you want is to eat lobster at a place with a great view.

From Outside Online

The route to Bass Harbor Head Light, one of three lighthouses managed by the park, passes through neighborhoods where yards are filled with towers of lobster traps.

From Outside Online

Beijing already has imposed import restrictions on Australian barley, wheat, coal, beef, lobster, sugar, copper and timber.

From Fortune

Legal-sized lobsters are hand caught for steaming, grilling, dipping in lemon-butter, and eating.

From Popular-Science

The lobster is taken away and a steak, something he considers edible, is provided.

From The Daily Beast

He took her to the Savoy Grill to eat lobster, and to his favorite Mexican joint for hot enchiladas.

From The Daily Beast

We thought of other things that taste good with butter and salt and thought: lobster.

From The Daily Beast

A spokeswoman adds that, in the baked flesh, it looks more like a lobster tail.

From The Daily Beast

Spread out among nine tents, more than 20,000 pounds of lobster are served throughout the five-day festivities.

From The Daily Beast

We can buy some green corn of Dave, and he will let us pull his lobster-pots and charge us only five cents for each lobster.

From Project Gutenberg

I adore your ability, but I'd as soon fall in love with a lobster—and be boiled with the lobster in a black pot.

From Project Gutenberg

Miss blusht—what a happy dog he was—Miss blusht crimson, and then he sighed deeply, and began eating his turbat and lobster sos.

From Project Gutenberg

"It's only a lobster, you know," she said, with the careless ease of a young woman quite habituated to midnight suppers.

From Project Gutenberg

Near Brecq-Hou, in Sark, they show a cave where a devil-fish a few years since seized and drowned a lobster-fisher.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• clam
• conch
• crawfish
• crustacean
• mollusk
• mussel
• oyster
• prawn
• scallop
• shrimp
• snail