crab rangoon

noun

A deep-fried dumpling in American Asian cuisine, stuffed with cream cheese, crab meat, and scallions or garlic.

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Meanings

crab rangoon1

nouncrab rangoon (plural crab rangoons)

plural crab rangoons · alternative crab Rangoon

  1. A deep-fried dumpling in American Asian cuisine, stuffed with cream cheese, crab meat, and scallions or garlic.

    The history of crab rangoon leads back to tiki culture. The dish was probably invented by Victor Bergeron, best known as the namesake founder of the Trader Vic's chains of tiki bars.

    2020, Dan Nosowitz, “What the Heck is Crab Rangoon Anyway?”, in J. Kenji López-Alt, editor, The Best American Food Writing 2020, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 227

crab Rangoon2

nouncrab Rangoon (plural crab Rangoons)

plural crab Rangoons

  1. Alternative letter-case form of crab rangoon.

Origin

Named after, but apparently not otherwise connected to, the Burmese city of Rangoon. Apparently first served by the "Polynesian-style" restaurant Trader Vic's in San Francisco c. 1956. Now associated with American Chinese cuisine.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

crab rangoon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crab%20rangoon

MLA

“crab rangoon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crab%20rangoon. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crab rangoon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crab%20rangoon.

Source: crab rangoon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.