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European lobster

European lobster

6.5
Sea animal with a dark blue shell and big claws found off Europe's Atlantic coast that turns red when cooked
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : langosta europea
  • During our trip to the seaside, we enjoyed a meal of grilled European lobster with melted butter.

Examples

  • More recent studies have shown that adult European lobsters can also benefit from suspension feeding on plankton (Loo et al., 1993).

    Academic text (1999)
  • Because of the slower growth rates of the European lobster, it is believed that the American lobster will be a more suitable candidate for mass introduction (Kittaka, 1988).

    Academic text (1999)
  • The chef prepared a delicious dish featuring the fresh European lobster caught off the coast of France.

  • Many seafood restaurants specialize in serving European lobster, known for its distinctive flavor and texture.

Synonyms

Homarus vulgaris
vsEuropean lobster
  • Specialized
9.9

A type of lobster that lives along Europe's Atlantic coast

uses the species entry that lists a Latin epithet in parentheses

Surface Forms

Morphology

European + lobster

The meaning 'a lobster associated with Europe' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'European' (connected with Europe) with 'lobster' (a sea-dwelling crustacean). This adjective + noun composition for origin or species is cross-linguistically common and easily comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

European lobster comes from how fishermen and sellers named the animal by its parts: European shows it lives near Europe and lobster is the animal. So, the name simply tells you where it lives and helps people 'tell it apart' from the larger 'American' lobster.