🦀 A large crab 🦀 Edible crab meat

Alaska king crab

3.5

Meat from the legs of a large crab that lives in cold northern waters, usually sweet and tender

noun
/əˈlæskə kɪŋ kræb/

: carne de cangrejo rey de Alaska

She ordered Alaska king crab legs with melted butter for dinner.

Examples

The restaurant is famous for its fresh Alaska king crab dishes.
The chef recommended the Alaska king crab salad for its sweet and tender meat.
Harvesting Alaska king crab is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
I love Alaska king crab during the winter months.
Have you ever tried Alaska king crab?
I made a delicious pasta dish with fresh Alaska king crab and garlic butter.
At the seafood market, you can buy live Alaska king crab any time of year.

Synonyms

crab

vsAlaska king crab

80 1.0

The meat from a sea animal that people eat

is narrower by highlighting meat from a large cold-water species prized for sweet leg meat

crab legs

vsAlaska king crab

5 1.4

Legs of a crab often served as food, like king or snow crabs

focuses on leg meat but can mean meat from other parts too

crabmeat

vsAlaska king crab

5 1.0

Parts of a crab that people eat

is specific to a large cold-water species prized for sweet tender leg meat

king crab

vsAlaska king crab

1 2.8

Meat from the legs of a large cold water crab that people eat as a delicacy

is specific to animals from the northern region and prized for sweet leg meat

Alaskan king crab

vsAlaska king crab

4.3

The sweet meat from the legs of a very large crab that lives in cold northern seas near Alaska

uses the regional noun form instead of the adjective

Alaska crab

vsAlaska king crab

2.8

The meat from the legs of large cold water crabs that people eat

is limited to the larger species prized for sweet tender leg meat

Surface Forms

Alaska king crab singular

Alaska king crabs plural

Morphology

Alaska + king + crab

The meaning is directly compositional: 'king' here signals a large/premium type of 'crab' and 'Alaska' specifies geographic origin, so a learner who knows the three words can infer it refers to a large crab (or crab meat) from Alaska. There is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift, and this place + type noun combination is a common, cross-linguistically transparent compounding pattern.

Etymology

Alaska king crab as food takes its name from that big king crab; fish sellers and cooks used the crab's name for the sweet leg 'meat' because the legs are the best part. That's why the term often means the tasty crab legs people eat in restaurants.