D defs.my
Entry 3 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Shrimp

/shrĭmp/ · IPA /ʃɹɪmp/
01 v. t. To contract; to shrink.
  1. 1.
    To contract; to shrink.[Obs.]
02 n. Any one of numerous species of macruran Crustacea belonging to Crangon and various allied genera, having a slender body and long legs. Man…
  1. 1.
    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.(Zool.) See: Decapoda
  2. 2.
    Figuratively, a little wrinkled man; a dwarf; -- in contempt.
    “This weak and writhled shrimp.” Shak.
Phrases & compounds
Opossum shrimp — See under Opossum.
Spector shrimp — any slender amphipod crustacean of the genus Caprella and allied genera. See Illust. under Laemodopoda.
Shrimp catcher — the little tern (Sterna minuta).
Shrimp net — a dredge net fixed upon a pole, or a sweep net dragged over the fishing ground.