fiddler crab
- noun
- /ˈfɪd.lər kræb/
- US
:
cangrejo violinista
- Fiddler crabs scuttle.
- a male fiddler crab
- species of fiddler crab
Examples
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At low tide, we spotted several fiddler crabs scurrying across the beach, their enlarged claws waving in the air.
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The male fiddler crab is easily recognizable due to its oversized claw, which it uses for communication and attracting mates.
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If fiddler crabs were to die out, the marsh would die with them.
Academic text (2001) -
And it takes only seconds for the fiddler crabs to realize that the wader they might once have feared has now become their prey.
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Cable's 1886 description in The Century magazine of "fiddler crabs," the folk name for black men who could only attend balls by offering entertainment or by providing escort.
Academic text (2018) -
In the estuary, many fiddler crabs burrow into the soft mud, creating a network of tunnels beneath the surface.
Synonyms
101
1.0
A sea animal with a flat shell, five pairs of legs, and front claws
1
9.9
A small tropical crab often called a fiddler crab whose males have one very large front claw
A group of small crabs called fiddler crabs whose males have one very large claw
Surface Forms
Morphology
Knowing 'fiddler' and 'crab' lets a learner infer this is a kind or subtype of crab (so the noun-noun composition is partly compositional). However, the distinctive sense — that males have one greatly enlarged claw and the etymological reason for 'fiddler' — cannot be predicted from the constituents alone, so the relation is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The name fiddler crab comes from the male's one very large claw, which he waves like someone playing a fiddle. So the picture of a 'fiddler' helps you remember this small burrowing crab with a big claw.