yabby

American

[yab-ee] / ˈjæb i /

noun

a small Australian crayfish, of the genus Cherax, inhabiting streams and water holes.

yabby British

/ ˈjæbɪ /

noun

a small freshwater crayfish of the genus Cherax , esp C. destructor
Also called: nipper. a marine prawn used as bait

"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

verb

(intr) to go out to catch yabbies

"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 yabby

First recorded in 1890–95; from Wergaia (an Australian Aboriginal language spoken around Wimmera, Victoria) yabij

Example Sentences

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yabby

The second, which came out in 2016, held 16,000, including words borrowed from more than 100 Indigenous Australian languages — billabong, kangaroo and yabby, to name a few.

From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2022

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