as in bear
an irritable and complaining person
you're always such a crab in the morning!
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to complain
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely
their two-year-old whined and crabbed for the whole car trip
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to damage
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
crabbed the blossoming romance by becoming moody and demanding
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of crab
Ben Woollard, JSTOR Daily, 29 Jan. 2025
Isopods are an order of invertebrates belonging to the greater crustacean group of animals, like crabs and shrimp.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2025
Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 25 Oct. 2024
The 21-foot white Bayliner reportedly had six occupants — three adults and three juveniles — and had been crabbing off of Bodega.
—John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 3 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for crab 
Noun
As the scholar of Victorian culture Will Abberley outlines, in early works such as Glaucus, Kingsley was prone to interpret nature in moral terms, to finding symbols of virtue in behaviors revealed through observation, so that bees display industriousness, crabs cleanliness, and so on.
—Ben Woollard, JSTOR Daily, 29 Jan. 2025
Isopods are an order of invertebrates belonging to the greater crustacean group of animals, like crabs and shrimp.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2025
Verb
The 2020 crabbing season was officially set to begin Dec. 23, but price negotiations between crab fleets and seafood processors delayed the start until early January 2021.
—Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 25 Oct. 2024
The 21-foot white Bayliner reportedly had six occupants — three adults and three juveniles — and had been crabbing off of Bodega.
—John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 3 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for crab
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crab
Noun
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Two is indeed the sweet spot for this trilogy of movies based on the beloved books by Michael Bond about a Peruvian British bear in a blue overcoat and red hat.—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
14 Feb. 2025
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The third installment featuring the beloved bear is sure to be a hit with kids and parents.—
Lynnette Nicholas,
Parents,
12 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Palestinians complain of ill-treatment In exchange for the hostages' release, Israel is freeing 183 Palestinian prisoners, some convicted of involvement in attacks that killed dozens of people, as well as 111 detained in Gaza during the war.—
Hussam al-Masri,
USA TODAY,
10 Feb. 2025
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Many conspiracy theorists have complained about Black history being relegated to the calendar’s shortest month.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
9 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The freeze on foreign aid, for example, is already damaging the network of groups the federal government relies on to deliver overseas assistance, according to Scott R. Anderson, a former U.S. diplomat and government attorney now at the Brookings Institution.—
Josh Meyer,
USA TODAY,
10 Feb. 2025
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Sudden weather shifts have become more frequent, and winter freeze-and-thaw cycles can damage plants as much as bitter cold.—
Beth Botts,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In San Diego this incited Beatlemania-volume screaming.—
Abby Aguirre,
Vogue,
11 Feb. 2025
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There was the monotony, euphoria, and bemusement of performing the same show to 60,000 screaming fans night after night.—
Federico Fahsbender,
Rolling Stone,
11 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Matthew Renne arrived home March 15, following nearly two months in a hospital after he was injured in an early morning Taliban attack Jan. 18.—
Contributed Content,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
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The pilot and co-pilot were killed, the São Paulo state military police told Newsweek, and two people on the street where the aircraft crashed were injured.—
Kristan Hawkins,
Newsweek,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Indeed, the efficiency is on par with some manual transmissions, while offering the ability to smoothly adjust gear ratios from zero all the way up to overdrive, whether the wheels and/or crank are turning or not.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
5 Dec. 2024
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The lack of the previous GT350’s flat-plane crank may leave some fans disappointed, but an additional 284 horsepower should more than make up for the difference.—
Michael Teo Van Runkle,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Now even Sean McDermott, coach of the Bills team that lost to the Chiefs last Sunday in the AFC championship games, is running with the crowd and whining that a team having the kind of extraordinary run the Chiefs are having doesn’t get here without the refs.—
Mike Lupica,
New York Daily News,
1 Feb. 2025
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Walter Lippmann in Public Opinion whines about this.—
Sean Illing,
Vox,
1 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Passes for the shows in the U.K. and Ireland went on sale in August 2024, but the on-sale process was marred by long delays and the use of dynamic pricing model, which meant that ticket prices were higher for some fans than expected.—
Thomas Smith,
Billboard,
10 Feb. 2025
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Apart from losing the popular ballot by about three million votes, Trump’s victory was marred by comical levels of scandal.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
The New Yorker,
5 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near crab
Cite this Entry
“Crab.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crab. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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