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# crabs

noun, plural of «crab» (a crab, crabs); verb «crab» (rare)

«crabs» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Sea or shore animals with a hard shell, ten legs and two big claws that walk sideways. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#m1)
2. The meat of these animals, eaten as food. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science, crabs are crustaceans (like lobsters and shrimps): invertebrates with an outer skeleton (exoskeleton) that they shed as they grow. At the beach, children look for crabs in rock pools — safety: pick them up gently from behind, mind the claws, and put them back where you found them. Phrases: «rock pool crabs», «hermit crabs», «walk like a crab», «crab legs».

### Examples

- We found three little crabs in the rock pool. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#x1)
- Crabs walk sideways across the sand. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#x2)
- Hold crabs from behind so they can't pinch you. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#x3)
- Hermit crabs live in empty shells. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#x4)
- Crabs shed their hard shells when they grow. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#x5)
- Put the crabs back in the water before you go home. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#x6)
- Dad ordered crab cakes at the seaside restaurant. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#x7)
- Crabs are crustaceans, not insects. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#x8)
- There grew water-plants, some quite fresh, and others looking sickly, which had water-snakes twining round them, and black crabs clinging to their stems. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/#x9)

### Note

Countable: one crab, two crabs; the food is uncountable: «some crab». «Crabby» or «crabbed» means grumpy. Crabs are not fish and not insects; they have ten legs, insects have six. In maths problems, a crab has 10 legs (8 walking legs and 2 claws).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «crabs» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crabs/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«crabs» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/crabs.html) on Mova free.