shrimp
Americannoun
plural
shrimps,plural
shrimp-
any of several small, long-tailed, chiefly marine crustaceans of the decapod suborder Natania, certain species of which are used as food.
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Informal. a diminutive or insignificant person.
verb (used without object)
adjective
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(of food) made with or containing shrimp.
shrimp salad.
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of or relating to shrimp or their catching, processing, and marketing.
a shrimp boat.
noun
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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
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any of various similar but unrelated crustaceans, such as the opossum shrimp and mantis shrimp
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Also called: freshwater shrimp. any of various freshwater shrimplike amphipod crustaceans of the genus Gammarus, esp G. pulex
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Also called: sand shrimp. any of various shrimplike amphipod crustaceans of the genus Gammarus, esp G. locusta See also opossum shrimp
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informal a diminutive person, esp a child
verb
Other Word Forms
- shrimper noun
- shrimplike adjective
Etymology
Origin of shrimp
1300–50; Middle English shrimpe crustacean, puny person; akin to Middle High German schrimpfen to contract, Old English scrimman to shrink
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But no, Scottish salmon gets its color largely from its diet of shrimp and krill.
From Salon
These quiet compositions are both minimal and surreal, as the edge of a roaring fire is rendered in a delicate line, or a multicolored shrimp floats in the middle of a vacant plane.
Some individuals picked up a small piece of shrimp from the tank floor, carried it upward, and intentionally released it near the mirror.
From Science Daily
Dozens of armed government agents swarmed the offices of shrimp producer Grupo Lamar, a family owned business that had emerged as one of Venezuela’s largest exporters after the collapse of the oil industry.
Under the glow of fluorescent lights at Seafood City market in North Hills, packages of premade adobo, salted shrimp fry and and dried anchovies glisten in meat coolers.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
