Lobster

//ˈlɒb.stə// adj, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Red-colored, especially from a sunburn.
Noun
  1. 1
    A crustacean of the Nephropidae family, dark green or blue-black in colour turning bright red when cooked, with a hard shell and claws, which is used as a seafood. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    any of several edible marine crustaceans of the families Homaridae and Nephropsidae and Palinuridae wordnet
  3. 3
    Various other crustaceans that resemble true lobsters:; A spiny lobster, also called the rock lobster, a crustacean of the Palinuridae family, pinkish red in colour, with a hard, spiny shell but no claws, which is used as a seafood. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    flesh of a lobster wordnet
  5. 5
    Various other crustaceans that resemble true lobsters:; A slipper lobster (a crustacean of the family Scyllaridae). countable, uncountable
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    Various other crustaceans that resemble true lobsters:; A squat lobster. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    A soldier or officer of the imperial British Army (due to their red or scarlet uniform). countable, historical, slang, uncountable

    "[…] how the troops came marching out for evening exercise under Captain Preston; how pedestrians and street urchins taunted them, shouting "Lobsters," "Bloody-backs," and flinging snow-balls, turnips, […]"

  3. 8
    An Australian twenty-dollar note, due to its reddish-orange colour. countable, slang, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To fish for lobsters.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English loppestere, lopster, from Old English loppestre, lopustre, lopystre, of uncertain origin. Some believe it to be a corruption of Latin lō̆custa (“grasshopper, locust”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre. In Latin, the phrase lō̆custa marīna (literally "sea-grasshopper") signified a type of crustacean (shrimp or lobster). Alternatively, from Old English lobbe, loppe (“spider”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre, equivalent to lop + -ster.

Etymology 2

From Middle English loppestere, lopster, from Old English loppestre, lopustre, lopystre, of uncertain origin. Some believe it to be a corruption of Latin lō̆custa (“grasshopper, locust”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre. In Latin, the phrase lō̆custa marīna (literally "sea-grasshopper") signified a type of crustacean (shrimp or lobster). Alternatively, from Old English lobbe, loppe (“spider”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre, equivalent to lop + -ster.

Etymology 3

From Middle English loppestere, lopster, from Old English loppestre, lopustre, lopystre, of uncertain origin. Some believe it to be a corruption of Latin lō̆custa (“grasshopper, locust”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre. In Latin, the phrase lō̆custa marīna (literally "sea-grasshopper") signified a type of crustacean (shrimp or lobster). Alternatively, from Old English lobbe, loppe (“spider”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre, equivalent to lop + -ster.

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