shrimp
Americannoun
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any of several small, long-tailed, chiefly marine crustaceans of the decapod suborder Natania, certain species of which are used as food.
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Informal. a diminutive or insignificant person.
verb (used without object)
adjective
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(of food) made with or containing shrimp.
shrimp salad.
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of or relating to shrimp or their catching, processing, and marketing.
a shrimp boat.
noun
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any of various chiefly marine decapod crustaceans of the genus Crangon and related genera, having a slender flattened body with a long tail and a single pair of pincers
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any of various similar but unrelated crustaceans, such as the opossum shrimp and mantis shrimp
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Also called: freshwater shrimp. any of various freshwater shrimplike amphipod crustaceans of the genus Gammarus, esp G. pulex
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Also called: sand shrimp. any of various shrimplike amphipod crustaceans of the genus Gammarus, esp G. locusta See also opossum shrimp
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informal a diminutive person, esp a child
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of shrimp
1300–50; Middle English shrimpe crustacean, puny person; akin to Middle High German schrimpfen to contract, Old English scrimman to shrink
Explanation
A shrimp is a small crustacean that lives on the ocean floor. You may be most familiar with the shrimp you order at a seafood restaurant, but there are over 2,000 species of shrimp in the world. While many people think of shrimp as a delicious part of a pasta dish or seafood buffet, there's much more to these tiny animals. Shrimp are invertebrates, with hard exoskeletons, antennae, and eyes on long stalks. They live at the bottom of the ocean, where they filter sand and particles for algae and plankton. Shrimp probably comes from the Old Norse skreppa, "thin person," and fittingly, shrimp is also a mildly derogatory term for a small person.
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.
Others said customers haven’t always liked the current shrimp options.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
For example, Red Lobster’s promotion offers five different shrimp meals.
From MarketWatch • May 14, 2026
The goods affected included several potato chip products, as well as a breakfast cereal and Kappa Ebisen, a moreish shrimp snack known for the slogan "can't stop, can't stop".
From Barron's • May 12, 2026
Other species to have been named after the broadcaster in the past include a wildflower, butterfly, grasshopper, dinosaur and ghost shrimp.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
Coins of fire ignited the mullet’s back as two shrimp boats slid past ringing buoys, tethered yachts, and storefronts.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
