Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Shrimp

Shrimp (shrĭmp), v. 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, n. [OE. shrimp; — probably so named from its shriveled appearance. See Shrimp, v.] 1. (Zoöl.) (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. Shak.

Opossum shrimp. (Zoöl.) See under Opossum. — Spector shrimp, or Skeleton shrimp (Zoöl.), any slender amphipod crustacean of the genus Caprella and allied genera. See Illust. under Læmodopoda. — Shrimp catcher (Zoöl.), the little tern (Sterna minuta). — Shrimp net, a dredge net fixed upon a pole, or a sweep net dragged over the fishing ground.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.