shrimp

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

shrimp, 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.  [1913 Webster]

shrimp, n. [OE. shrimp; -- probably so named from its shriveled appearance. See Shrimp, v.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  Figuratively, a little wrinkled man; a dwarf; -- in contempt.  [1913 Webster]

  "This weak and writhled shrimp."  [1913 Webster]

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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

shrimp, n. & v.
--n.
1 (pl. same or shrimps) any of various small (esp. marine) edible crustaceans, with ten legs, grey-green when alive and pink when boiled.
2 colloq. a very small slight person.
--v.intr. go catching shrimps.

Idiom

shrimp plant an evergreen shrub, Justicia brandegeana, bearing small white flowers in clusters of pinkish-brown bracts.

Derivative

shrimper n.

Etymology

ME, prob. rel. to MLG schrempen wrinkle, MHG schrimpfen contract, and SCRIMP

THESAURUS

shrimp

Chilopoda, Chordata, Dungeness crab, Echiuroidea, Ectoprocta, Entoprocta, Japanese crab, Lilliputian, Monoplacophora, Nemertinea, Phoronidea, Tom Thumb, a nobody, a nothing, angle, bait the hook, bantam, banty, blue point, bob, brownie, button, chit, cipher, clam, common man, coquillage, crab, crawdad, crawfish, crayfish, dap, dib, dibble, diminutive, drive, dummy, dwarf, elf, featherweight, figurehead, fingerling, fish, fly-fish, gig, gnome, go fishing, grig, guddle, homunculus, insignificancy, jack, jacklight, jackstraw, jig, langouste, lightweight, limpet, little fellow, little guy, littleneck clam, lobster, man of straw, manikin, mediocrity, midge, midget, mini, minikin, minnow, minny, mouse, mussel, nebbish, net, nobody one knows, nonentity, nubbin, obscurity, oyster, peewee, periwinkle, pip-squeak, pony, prawn, punk, pygmy, quahog, runt, scallop, scrub, seine, shellfish, slip, small fry, small potato, small potatoes, snail, snip, snippet, soft-shell crab, spin, squirt, squit, steamer, still-fish, tit, torch, trawl, troll, wart, whale, whelk, whiffet, whippersnapper, wisp

ROGET THESAURUS

shrimp

Littleness

N littleness, smallness, exiguity, inextension, parvitude, parvity, duodecimo, Elzevir edition, epitome, microcosm, rudiment, vanishing point, thinness, dwarf, pygmy, pigmy, Liliputian, chit, pigwidgeon, urchin, elf, atomy, dandiprat, doll, puppet, Tom Thumb, Hop-o'-my-thumb, manikin, mannikin, homunculus, dapperling, cock-sparrow, animalcule, monad, mite, insect, emmet, fly, midge, gnat, shrimp, minnow, worm, maggot, entozoon, bacteria, infusoria, microzoa, phytozoaria, microbe, grub, tit, tomtit, runt, mouse, small fry, millet seed, mustard seed, barleycorn, pebble, grain of sand, molehill, button, bubble, point, atom, fragment, powder, point of a pin, mathematical point, minutiae, micrometer, vernier, scale, microphotography, photomicrography, micrography, photomicrograph, microphotograph, microscopy, microscope (optical instruments), little, small, minute, diminutive, microscopic, microzoal, inconsiderable, exiguous, puny, tiny, wee, petty, minikin, miniature, pygmy, pigmy, elfin, undersized, dwarf, dwarfed, dwarfish, spare, stunted, limited, cramp, cramped, pollard, Liliputian, dapper, pocket, portative, portable, duodecimo, dumpy, squat, short, impalpable, intangible, evanescent, imperceptible, invisible, inappreciable, insignificant, inconsiderable, trivial, infinitesimal, homoeopathic, atomic, subatomic, corpuscular, molecular, rudimentary, rudimental, embryonic, vestigial, weazen, scant, scraggy, scrubby, thin, granular, shrunk, brevipennate, in a small compass, in a nutshell, on a small scale, minutely, microscopically.