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soft-shell crab

American  

noun

  1. a crab, especially the blue crab, that has recently molted and therefore has a soft, edible shell.

soft-shell crab British  

noun

  1. a crab, esp of the edible species Cancer pagurus, that has recently moulted and has not yet formed its new shell Compare hard-shell crab

"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

Etymology

Origin of soft-shell crab

First recorded in 1835–45

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.