crab legs
5
1.4
- noun
- /kræb lɛgz/
:
piernas de cangrejo
- The crab legs, Peking duck, and roast lamb turn over quickly when it's busy, and if we're in that mood, then we cap it all with a few lychees, pineapple, and a macaroon.
- shrimp and crab legs
- king crab legs
- Alaskan crab legs
Da sent me steaks, crab legs, lobster tails.
- Da sent me steaks, crab legs, lobster tails.
- But I remember he ordered crab legs and I remember he, he like, was he a damn mayor?
Examples
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Shrimp and crab legs are among the brunch offerings at Back Bay Bistro.
Blog text (26) -
"This is great," smiled Catherine as we went down the line, loading out plates with French toast, sausage, bacon, breakfast potatoes, shrimp, crab legs, salmon, and other goodies.
Blog text (26) -
Now get out of here before my crab legs get cold!
Fiction book (2002) -
It's sitting at the bar for an hour and a half to get to your table and have your prime rib and crab legs.
Blog text (13) -
They did stop and get some crab legs on the way, though.
Blog text (3) -
You're going to have some of this crab legs and butter and bread.
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We ordered crab legs.
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We really only had one full day there, but it was a wonderful day—85 degrees, and we swam in the ocean and ate oysters and crab legs and had a lot of fun.
Blog text (2) -
A blonde waitress carried a towering platter of orange crab legs to a table.
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I was thinking about going over there and getting some crab legs.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the legs of a crab' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'crab' (a crustacean) with 'leg' (a limb); the phrase simply denotes the body parts of that animal and, in culinary contexts, the parts served as food. This noun-noun partitive/compound pattern is common in English and other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Crab legs name the long legs of a crab. Because these parts are often cooked and served on a plate, the phrase now means 'the legs of a crab, especially when served as food'.