crayfish
Americannoun
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Also called crawdad, crawdaddy. any freshwater decapod crustacean of the genera Astacus and Cambarus, closely related to but smaller than the lobsters.
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any of several similar marine crustaceans, especially the spiny lobster.
noun
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any freshwater decapod crustacean of the genera Astacus and Cambarus, resembling a small lobster
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any of various similar crustaceans, esp the spiny lobster
Usage
What does crayfish mean? A crayfish is a freshwater crustacean related to the lobster but smaller. Crayfish is also used as the name of several similar saltwater crustaceans, especially the spiny lobster (also called the rock lobster). The plural of crayfish can be crayfish or crayfishes. When used as a plural, crayfish typically refers to them collectively, while crayfishes usually refers to two or more kinds or species (but this isn’t always the case). Crayfish aren’t fish—they’re shellfish. Other types of crustaceans include crabs, lobsters, and shrimp. There are several different species of both freshwater and saltwater crayfish. Freshwater ones are also referred to by the names crawfish, crawdad, and crawdaddy. Use of these terms varies by region. Example: When I was a kid, we used to catch crayfish in the creek.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of crayfish
1350–1400; alteration (by folk etymology) of Middle English crevis < Middle French crevice < Old High German krebiz crab 1
Compare meaning
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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:
We see Adrian at the film’s beginning as a small child, catching crayfish and other underwater creatures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
These ecosystem changes happen on a local scale, of course, but crayfish conservation and invasion mitigation have become bigger-picture challenges, often requiring transnational coordination.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
Neither overfishing nor pollution, writes David Wilcove in his book The Condor’s Shadow, “has endangered as many species of fish, mussels, amphibians, and crayfish as has habitat destruction.”
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2024
As with humans, crayfish and capybaras, if you look you’ll find the biochemical markers of the poor bees’ cognitive change.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2024
In summer it will barely be there, and the crayfish will hide in the wet mud under rocks until the next rain.
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
I afterward visited the locality several times, collecting specimens of the mounds and crayfishes, which are now in the United States National Museum, and making observations.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 446, July 19, 1884 by Various
Farther east a gap occurs in the distribution and no crayfishes are met with till the basin of the Amur is reached, where a group of species occurs, extending into northern Japan.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6 "Coucy-le-Château" to "Crocodile" by Various
Their warfare on crayfishes must not be overlooked, nor must we forget the more personal debt of gratitude we owe them for preying upon mosquitoes.
From Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation by Hornaday, William Temple
In South America crayfishes are found in southern Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6 "Coucy-le-Château" to "Crocodile" by Various
You can tuck up the sleeves, and we will catch crayfishes again.
From Abbe Mouret's Transgression by Zola, Émile
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.
