: any of numerous freshwater decapod crustaceans (especially families Astacidea, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae) resembling the lobster but usually much smaller
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Too small for there ever to be an airport, this 40-square-mile outcrop of vertiginous cliffs surrounded by churning ocean is only reachable via a berth on one of the South African fishing vessels that come to collect the crayfish.—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 23 May 2025 The amphibians spend nearly all their time in the water and are considered carnivores, eating crayfish, worms, fish, insects and sometimes even other hellbenders, experts say.—Olivia Lloyd, Charlotte Observer, 16 May 2025 As the weighted end of the rig skips across the bottom, the non-weighted end floats and wiggles just above the bottom, simulating a dying baitfish or fleeing crayfish.—Derek Horner, Outdoor Life, 27 Feb. 2025 How did the Australian crayfish species arrive in Texas?—Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, 25 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for crayfish
Word History
Etymology
by folk etymology from Middle English crevis, from Anglo-French creveis, escreveice, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German krebiz crab — more at crab
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