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Glite Dictionary
river prawn

river prawn

5.1
A large freshwater shellfish people often eat that lives in rivers
  • noun
  • Australian
translation icon : gamba de río
  • The fisherman caught a massive river prawn in the Murray River yesterday.

Examples

  • The river prawn is a popular dish in Australia.

  • She prepared a delicious curry using fresh river prawns from the market.

  • Grilled river prawns are a specialty in many Australian restaurants.

  • Many restaurants serve river prawns in various styles.

  • We enjoyed a delicious dish made with river prawn during our trip to Australia.

  • At the market, I bought some fresh river prawns for dinner tonight.

  • The restaurant's specialty is river prawn curry, which is a local favorite.

Synonyms

Palaemon australis
vsriver prawn
  • Australian
9.1

A large edible freshwater prawn that lives in Australian rivers

is the common food name rather than the scientific species term
long-clawed prawn
vsriver prawn
  • Australian
7.9

A large edible freshwater shrimp from Australian rivers with very long claws

is a general large edible freshwater animal valued for food rather than claw detail

Surface Forms

river prawn singular
river prawns plural

Morphology

river + prawn

The meaning 'a large freshwater prawn' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'river' (a freshwater watercourse) with 'prawn' (a crustacean), so a learner would infer it denotes a prawn that lives in rivers. This noun–noun compound follows a common compounding pattern and has clear cross‑linguistic equivalents, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows the parts.

Etymology

River prawn comes from the simple image of a prawn living in a river rather than the sea. That's why it means a large 'fresh water' prawn often caught and sold as 'food'.