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Webster 1913 Edition
Lobster
Lob′ster
,Noun.
[AS.
loppestre
, lopystre
prob., corrupted fr. L. locusta
a marine shellfish, a kind of lobster, a locust. Cf. Locust
.] (Zool.)
1.
Any large macrurous crustacean used as food, esp. those of the genus
Homarus
; as the American lobster (Homarus Americanus
), and the European lobster (Homarus vulgaris
). The Norwegian lobster (Nephrops Norvegicus
) is similar in form. All these have a pair of large unequal claws. The spiny lobsters of more southern waters, belonging to Palinurus
, Panulirus
, and allied genera, have no large claws. The fresh-water crayfishes are sometimes called lobsters
. Lobster caterpillar
(Zool.)
, the caterpillar of a European bombycid moth (
Stauropus fagi
); – so called from its form. Lobster louse
(Zool.)
, a copepod crustacean (
Nicothoë astaci
) parasitic on the gills of the European lobster.Webster 1828 Edition
Lobster
LOB'STER
,Noun.
A crustaceous fish of the genus Cancer. Lobsters have large claws and fangs, and four pair of legs. They are said to change their crust annually, and to be frightened at thunder or other loud report. They constitute an article of food.