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Webster 1913 Edition

Shrimp

Shrimp

,
Verb.
T.
[Cf. AS.
scrimman
to dry up, wither, MHG.
schrimpfen
to shrink, G.
schrumpfen
, Dan.
skrumpe
,
skrumpes
, Da. & Sw.
skrumpen
shriveled. Cf.
Scrimp
,
Shrink
,
Shrivel
.]
To contract; to shrink.
[Obs.]

Shrimp

,
Noun.
[OE.
shrimp
; – probably so named from its shriveled appearance. See
Shrimp
,
Verb.
]
1.
(Zool.)
(a)
Any one of numerous species of macruran Crustacea belonging to
Crangon
and various allied genera, having a slender body and long legs. Many of them are used as food. The larger kinds are called also
prawns
. See Illust. of
Decapoda
.
(b)
In a more general sense, any species of the macruran tribe
Caridea
, or any species of the order Schizopoda, having a similar form.
(c)
In a loose sense, any small crustacean, including some amphipods and even certain entomostracans;
as, the fairy
shrimp
, and brine
shrimp
. See under
Fairy
, and
Brine
.
2.
Figuratively, a little wrinkled man; a dwarf; – in contempt.
This weak and writhled
shrimp
.
Shakespeare
Opossum shrimp
.
(Zool.)
See under
Opossum
.
–
Spector shrimp
, or
Skeleton shrimp
(Zool.)
,
any slender amphipod crustacean of the genus
Caprella
and allied genera. See Illust. under
Laemodopoda
.
–
Shrimp catcher
(Zool.)
,
the little tern (
Sterna minuta
).
–
Shrimp net
,
a dredge net fixed upon a pole, or a sweep net dragged over the fishing ground.

Webster 1828 Edition

Shrimp

SHRIMP

,
Verb.
T.
To contract. [Not in use.]

SHRIMP

,
Noun.
[supra.]
1. A crustaceous animal of the genus Cancer. It has long slender feelers, claws with a single, hooked fang, and three pair of legs. It is esteemed delicious food.
2. A little wrinkled man; a dwarf; in contempt.

Definition 2024

Shrimp

Shrimp

See also: shrimp and SHRIMP

English

Noun

Shrimp ‎(plural Shrimps)

  1. (soccer) A player, supporter or other person connected with Morecambe Football Club.

shrimp

shrimp

See also: SHRIMP and Shrimp

English

A shrimp (crustacean)

Noun

shrimp ‎(countable and uncountable, plural shrimp or shrimps)

  1. Any of many swimming, often edible crustaceans, chiefly of the infraorder Caridea or the suborder Dendrobranchiata, with slender legs, long whiskers and a long abdomen.
    • 1851, "A Lady of Charleston" (Sarah Rutledge), The Carolina Housewife, 2013, unnumbered page,
      Butter well a deep dish, upon which place a thick layer of pounded biscuit; having picked and boiled your shrimps, put them upon the biscuit; a layer of shrimps, with small pieces of butter, a little pepper, mace or nutmeg.
    • 1998, Claude E. Boyd, Pond Aquaculture Water Quality Management, page 605,
      Shrimp farming is in its infancy in Africa. but Asia has most of the world's shrimp farms.
    • 2011, Will Holtham, Home Port Cookbook: Beloved Recipes from Martha's Vineyard, page 142,
      America's favorite seafood, shrimp has always been a big seller at the Home Port. On any given day, we usually served around 40 to 50 pounds of shrimp.
    • 2004, Gary C. B. Poore, Shane T. Ahyong, Marine Decapod Crustacea of Southern Australia: A Guide to Identification, page 145,
      Most shrimps belong to one of several families of the Infraorder Caridea (Chapter 4). However, coral shrimps and Venus shrimps are so different from the rest that a separate infraorder is warranted.
  2. (uncountable) The flesh of such crustaceans.
  3. (slang) A small, puny or unimportant person.
Synonyms
  • (crustacean; flesh of crustacean): prawn (Australia, Canada, UK and US)
Translations

Verb

shrimp ‎(third-person singular simple present shrimps, present participle shrimping, simple past and past participle shrimped)

  1. (intransitive) To fish for shrimp.
    • 1986, The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America, page 454,
      Fishing, shrimping and crabbing are permitted on designated areas of the refuge subject to the following conditions: […] .
    • 1996, Anthony V. Margavio, Caught in the Net: The Conflict Between Shrimpers and Conservationists, page 24,
      Although the line is not always sharply drawn, offshore shrimping and inshore shrimping require different strategies.
    • 2007, Jerry Wayne Caines, A Caines Family Tradition: A Native Son's Story of Fishing, Hunting and Duck Decoys in the Lowcountry, page 86,
      There were times we shrimped in the same boat due to breakdowns and such, but for the most part we each had our own separate boat. We started out using outboard motor boats. However, shrimping with an outboard is pretty hard.

Related terms

Etymology 2

Compare Old English scrimman ‎(“to dry up, wither”), German schrumpfen.

Verb

shrimp ‎(third-person singular simple present shrimps, present participle shrimping, simple past and past participle shrimped)

  1. To contract; to shrink.

Etymology

From Middle English schrimpe ‎(“shrimp, puny person”), from Proto-Germanic *skrimpaz (compare Middle High German schrimpf ‎(“scratch”), Norwegian skramp ‎(“thin horse, thin man”)), from *skrimpaną (compare Old English scrimman ‎(“to shrink”), Middle High German schrimpfen ‎(“to shrink, dry up”), Swedish skrympa ‎(“to shrink”)), from Proto-Indo-European *skremb, *skr̥mb (compare Lithuanian skrembti ‎(“to crust over, stiffen”), and possibly Albanian shkrumb ‎(“embers, ashes; crumble”)).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃɹɪmp/
  • Rhymes: -ɪmp

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