crabwise

C3R1A1B3W4I1S1E1

adjective

In the manner of a crab; sideways.

Similar
sidewaysoblique
OriginProto-Germanic *wīsaz ← Proto-Indo-European *weyd-s-ós ← English crab →
Scrabble 15
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivecrabwise (not comparable)
  1. not comparableIn the manner of a crab; sideways.
  2. figurativelynot comparableIncidental.

    Quite apart from their crabwise and often reluctant embrace of religious toleration for a wide variety of religious dissidence, both countries achieved a wider distribution of prosperity than any other part of seventeenth-century Europe.

    2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 788
adverbcrabwise (not comparable)
  1. not comparableIn the manner of a crab; sideways.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjective(of movement) at an angle

Similar
sidewaysoblique
Also see
obliquesideways

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishcrab
  2. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*wéydos
  4. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-s-ós
  5. Proto-Germanic*wīsaz
  6. Englishcrabwise

From crab + -wise.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

crabwise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crabwise

MLA

“crabwise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crabwise. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crabwise,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crabwise.

Source: crabwise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.