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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shrimpsimple
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shrimpssimple
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have shrimpedperfect
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has shrimpedperfect
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am shrimpingprogressive
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are shrimpingprogressive
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is shrimpingprogressive
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have been shrimpingperfect progressive
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has been shrimpingperfect progressive
Past
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shrimpedsimple
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had shrimpedperfect
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was shrimpingprogressive
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were shrimpingprogressive
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had been shrimpingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Thanks to a Philippines-Mexico connection, coconut shows up in sweet and savory recipes: ceviche with poached shrimp, coconut limonada and coconut raspado with jammy plums.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2026
They’re the base of the aquatic food chain, fed on by herbivores of all shapes and sizes, including shrimp and juvenile fish, which in turn feed organisms higher up the food chain.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2026
Directions Combine the shrimp, fish or chickpeas with the lime juice, onion, jalapeño and cilantro.
From Salon • Jun. 9, 2026
Route 1, is known for an impressive list of cheeses, international wines chosen by an in-house sommelier and traditional Spanish dishes like bacon-wrapped chorizo-stuffed dates, garlic shrimp and three different paellas.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
People would come up the path to the house with bags of fresh-caught shrimp or a bushel of snapping blue crabs or a few whiting just off the fishing pole.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
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.
