soft-shell crab

soft-shell crab

n.

A marine crab before its shell has hardened after molting, especially a blue crab in this stage. Soft-shell crabs can be cooked and eaten whole.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

soft-shell crab

n

(Animals) a crab, esp of the edible species Cancer pagurus, that has recently moulted and has not yet formed its new shell. Compare hard-shell crab

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

soft′-shell` crab′

n.

a crab, esp. the blue crab, that has recently molted and therefore has a soft, edible shell.

[1835–45]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	soft-shell crab - freshly molted crab with new shell still tender and flexible soft-shelled crab crabmeat, crab - the edible flesh of any of various crabs
	2.	soft-shell crab - edible crab that has recently molted and not yet formed its new shell soft-shelled crab crab - decapod having eyes on short stalks and a broad flattened carapace with a small abdomen folded under the thorax and pincers

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