Wiktionary

lobster

English

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Lobster (1)

Etymology

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From Middle English loppestere, lopster, from Old English loppestre, lopustre, lopystre, of uncertain origin. Some believe it to be a corruption of Latin lō̆custa (“grasshopper, locust”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre. In Latin, the phrase lō̆custa marīna (literally "sea-grasshopper") signified a type of crustacean (shrimp or lobster).

Alternatively, from Old English lobbe, loppe (“spider”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre, equivalent to lop +‎ -ster.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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lobster (comparative more lobster, superlative most lobster)

  1. Red-colored, especially from a sunburn.
    Synonym: red as a lobster

Noun

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lobster (countable and uncountable, plural lobsters)

  2. A crustacean of the Nephropidae family, dark green or blue-black in colour turning bright red when cooked, with a hard shell and claws, which is used as a seafood.
    • 1991, Markus Grosskopf, "Shit and Lobster", Helloween, Pink Bubbles Go Ape.
      Some get shit and some get lobster
  3. A crustacean of the Palinuridae family, pinkish red in colour, with a hard, spiny shell but no claws, which is used as a seafood.
  4. (slang, historical) A soldier or officer of the imperial British Army (due to their red or scarlet uniform).
    • 1912, Ralph Davol, Two Men of Taunton: In the Course of Human Events, 1731-1829, page 214:
      […] how the troops came marching out for evening exercise under Captain Preston; how pedestrians and street urchins taunted them, shouting "Lobsters," "Bloody-backs," and flinging snow-balls, turnips, […]
  5. (slang) An Australian twenty-dollar note, due to its reddish-orange colour.

Synonyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Verb

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lobster (third-person singular simple present lobsters, present participle lobstering, simple past and past participle lobstered)

  1. To fish for lobsters.
  2. (Internet slang) To trick someone with a blue lobster picture and an annoying Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

Translations

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Anagrams

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