prawn
Americannoun
-
prawns
plural
verb (used with object)
idioms
noun
-
any of various small edible marine decapod crustaceans of the genera Palaemon, Penaeus, etc, having a slender flattened body with a long tail and two pairs of pincers
-
informal to attempt deception
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of prawn
1400–50; late Middle English prane, of uncertain origin
Explanation
A prawn is a crustacean that resembles a big shrimp, with long antennae and a shell. When you see prawns on a menu, just imagine large, juicy shrimp. The words shrimp and prawn are used interchangeably so often that the difference between them has blurred. In many English-speaking parts of the world, prawn is the more common term, while North Americans reserve that word for freshwater shrimp (as opposed to ocean shrimp). Prawn is a common name, rather than a scientific one — if you want to sound knowledgable, you can call this animal a decapod crustacean of the sub-order Dendrobranchiata.
Vocabulary lists containing prawn
Something's Fishy: A Fresh Catch of Aquatic Words
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Amazing Animals, A-Z
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Amazing Animals, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Right now, I’m getting the melon salad, egg plate and the spotted prawn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Massara, an Italian restaurant in New York City, even serves a cold pasta: a chilled spaghetti with red prawn and briny, decadent sea urchin.
From Salon ● May 30, 2025
British supermarkets are brimming with packages of coronation cupcakes, hoppy coronation ale and coronation crisps seasoned to taste like king prawn cocktail.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2023
Lunch was roast rack of lamb with an Asian-style marinade, prawn tacos with pineapple salsa and a strawberry ginger trifle.
From New York Times ● May 1, 2023
A very old man, bent but active, with white mustaches that bristled forward like those of a prawn, pushed open the swing door and went in.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Depending on the day, they’ll have six or 21 of the prawns, so sometimes they’ll hold me one when they know I’m coming in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Seated on a thin carpet covering the cardboard floor, Rauzah and her four children share an iftar meal of vegetables and prawns.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
“It had sardines, I believe, anchovy, tuna, and prawns on it,” Skimehorn said.
From Slate ● Nov. 13, 2025
Some say he spent most tea times with New Yorker reporter Emily Hahn, two legends living legendarily, sharing tales over cucumber sandwiches, curried prawns, scones with clotted cream and strong black tea.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2025
“Garlic soup, curried prawns, avocado salad—if these don’t give you nice dreams, I don’t know what will.”
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
