: any of numerous freshwater decapod crustaceans (especially families Astacidea, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae) resembling the lobster but usually much smaller
Recent Examples on the WebOlive green can also mimic a crayfish or tiny madtom catfish.—Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 23 May 2024 The tail of a crayfish contains less ionic lithium than its gastrointestinal tract, gills, and hepatopancreas.—Emily Harnett, Harper's Magazine, 26 Apr. 2024 While in that part of the state, Hendricks donned a wetsuit and went underwater to capture life in the Savage River — a brook trout foraging among boulders for aquatic insects; minnows devouring a caterpillar; a wood turtle, a crayfish and the large salamander known as the Eastern hellbender.—Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun, 5 Apr. 2024 In brown or rusty orange, a curly-tail grub becomes a crayfish when slowly hopped across the bottom.—Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 7 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for crayfish
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crayfish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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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