mantis shrimp

noun

any stomatopod crustacean having a pair of appendages modified for grasping prey and resembling those of a mantis.

Origin of mantis shrimp

First recorded in 1870–75

Also called mantis crab.

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

British Dictionary definitions for mantis shrimp

mantis shrimp

mantis crab

noun

any of various burrowing marine shrimplike crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda that have a pair of large grasping appendages: subclass MalacostracaSee also squilla

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