shrimp

[shrimp] /ʃrɪmp/

noun, plural shrimps (especially collectively) shrimp for 1.

any of several small, long-tailed, chiefly marine crustaceans of the decapod suborder Natania, certain species of which are used as food.

Informal. a diminutive or insignificant person.

verb (used without object)

to catch or try to catch shrimps.

adjective

(of food) made with or containing shrimp:

shrimp salad.

of or pertaining to shrimp or their catching, processing, and marketing:

a shrimp boat.

Origin

1300-50; Middle English shrimpe crustacean, puny person; akin to Middle High German schrimpfen to contract, Old English scrimman to shrink

Related forms

shrimplike, adjective

Examples from the web for shrimp

There is also a thriving fishing industry, providing shrimp and oysters.
Which meant double whiskey sours and maybe a joint and some boiled shrimp.
Hot-wing aficionados will flip for these grilled shrimp, seasoned with bottled hot sauce and melted butter.
They shared a common ancestor with crustaceans, such as shrimp, which also have jointed legs and jointed exoskeletons.
They trap shrimp and other tiny creatures in the baleen, which the whales then swallow before preparing for the next gulp.
Oddly, toxicity of these substances is only quoted for arthropods, two of them: silverfish and shrimp.
Add a cup or two of cooked chicken or shrimp or tuna.
shrimp remoulade will be presented carpaccio-style, as will venison.
The shrimp feeds by smashing open its prey until it can feed on its tissue.
The shrimp uses its tiny claws to pick stuff off the fish's body.

British Dictionary definitions for shrimp

shrimp

/ʃrɪmp/

noun

any of various chiefly marine decapod crustaceans of the genus Crangon and related genera, having a slender flattened body with a long tail and a single pair of pincers

any of various similar but unrelated crustaceans, such as the opossum shrimp and mantis shrimp

Also called freshwater shrimp. any of various freshwater shrimplike amphipod crustaceans of the genus Gammarus, esp G. pulex

Also called sand shrimp. any of various shrimplike amphipod crustaceans of the genus Gammarus, esp G. locusta See also opossum shrimp

(informal) a diminutive person, esp a child

verb

(intransitive) to fish for shrimps

Derived Forms

shrimper, noun

Word Origin

C14: probably of Germanic origin; compare Middle Low German schrempen to shrink; see scrimp, crimp

Word Origin and History for shrimp

early 14c., "slender, edible marine crustacean," probably from Old Norse skreppa "thin person," from Proto-Germanic *skrimp- (see scrimp). Related to Old English scrimman "to shrink;" the connecting notion is probably "thinness" (cf. Danish dialectal skrimpe "thin cattle"). The meaning "puny person" in English is attested from late 14c.; an especially puny one might be a shrimplet (1680s).

"fish for shrimp," 1801 (implied in shrimping ), from shrimp (n.). Related: Shrimper (1808).

Slang definitions & phrases for shrimp

shrimp

noun

A very short or small person; peanut (1386+)