Meanings
nounhermit crab (plural hermit crabs)
plural hermit crabs
- A decapod crustacean (not a true crab) from the superfamily Paguroidea, which salvages empty seashells or other portable objects to permanently shelter and protect its soft abdomen.
In the U.S., Akers would like to see all hermit crabs legally reclassified as exotic pets, like an alligator or an ocelot, so their sale and ownership could be regulated. To her, every crab’s life is precious.
2025 August 19, Melissa Scott Sinclair, “Consider the Hermit Crab”, in Slate
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Translations
Bulgarian рак пустинник
- рак пустинник (rak pustinnik)crustacean
Catalan bernat ermità
- bernat ermitàcrustacean
Chinese Mandarin 寄居蟹, 寄生蟹
- 寄居蟹 (jìjūxiè)crustacean
- 寄生蟹 (jìshēngxiè)crustacean
Czech krab poustevníček, poustevníček severský
- krab poustevníčekcrustacean
- poustevníček severskýcrustacean
Danish eremitkrebs
- eremitkrebscrustacean
Dutch heremietkreeft
- heremietkreeftcrustacean
Finnish erakkorapu
- erakkorapucrustacean
French bernard-l’ermite
- bernard-l’ermitecrustacean
German Einsiedlerkrebs
- Einsiedlerkrebscrustacean
Greek πάγουρος
- πάγουρος (págouros)crustacean
Hungarian remeterák
- remeterákcrustacean
Indonesian kelomang
- kelomangcrustacean
Irish faocha ghliomaigh, portán sligreach
- faocha ghliomaighcrustacean
- portán sligreachcrustacean
Italian paguro, bernardo l’eremita
- pagurocrustacean
- bernardo l’eremitacrustacean
Japanese 宿借り, ヤドカリ
- 宿借りcrustacean
- ヤドカリ (yadokari)crustacean
Korean 소라게
- 소라게 (sorage)crustacean
Latin pīnotērēs
- pīnotērēscrustacean
Malay umang-umang
- umang-umangcrustacean
Māori kāunga, waerau
- kāungacrustacean
- waeraucrustacean
Norwegian eremittkreps
- eremittkrepscrustacean
Polish rak pustelnik, krab pustelnik
- rak pustelnikcrustacean
- krab pustelnikcrustacean
- pustelnikcrustacean
Portuguese bernardo-eremita
- bernardo-eremitacrustacean
Russian рак-отше́льник
- рак-отше́льник (rak-otšélʹnik)crustacean
Scottish Gaelic partan-tuathal
- partan-tuathalcrustacean
Spanish cangrejo ermitaño
- cangrejo ermitañocrustacean
Swedish eremitkräfta
- eremitkräftacrustacean
Thai ปูเสฉวน
- ปูเสฉวน (bpuu-sěe-chǔuan)crustacean
Turkish keşiş yengeci
- keşiş yengecicrustacean
Ukrainian рак-самітник
- рак-самітник (rak-samitnyk)crustacean
Vietnamese ốc mượn hồn, cua kí cư
- ốc mượn hồncrustacean
- cua kí cưcrustacean
- cua ẩn sĩcrustacean
Welsh cranc meddal, cranc meudwyol
- cranc meddalcrustacean
- cranc meudwyolcrustacean
Cite this entry
APA
hermit crab. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hermit%20crab
MLA
“hermit crab.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hermit%20crab. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hermit crab,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hermit%20crab.
Source: hermit crab on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.