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spider crab

American

noun

any of various crabs of the family Majidae, having long, slender legs and a comparatively small, triangular body.

spider crab British

noun

any of various crabs of the genera Macropodia, Libinia, etc, having a small triangular body and very long legs

"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 spider crab

First recorded in 1700–10

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

spider crab

Lorry driver Richard Lee was out for a walk with his friends when he came across thousands of the spider crab carcasses on Aberffraw Bay.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2022

Don't skip the oysters, the stuffed spider crab, or the roasted leeks.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2022

But before they could seal off one of those instruments with a big plastic bubble, a big, spiky spider crab decided that it would be a perfect perch.

From The Verge ● Jul. 5, 2022

We use collagen, cauliflower, spider crab and an in-your-face fashion-yellow shell.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 5, 2020

The German haunts her: in nightmares, he’s a spider crab three meters high; he clacks his claws and whispers One simple question into her ear.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023