shrimp

US plural shrimps

1. countableuncountableAny of many swimming, often edible, crustaceans, chiefly of the infraorder Caridea or the suborder Dendrobranchiata, with slender legs, long whiskers and a long abdomen.

   Shrimp farming is in its infancy in Africa. but Asia has most of the world's shrimp farms.

   1998, Claude E. Boyd, Pond Aquaculture Water Quality Management, page 605

   4 more examples

   Butter well a deep dish, upon which place a thick layer of pounded biscuit; having picked and boiled your shrimps, put them upon the biscuit; a layer of shrimps, with small pieces of butter, a little pepper, mace or nutmeg.

   1851, Sarah Rutledge, “A Lady of Charleston”, in The Carolina Housewife, published 2013, unnumbered page

   Most shrimps belong to one of several families of the Infraorder Caridea (Chapter 4). However, coral shrimps and Venus shrimps are so different from the rest that a separate infraorder is warranted.

   2004, Gary C. B. Poore, Shane T. Ahyong, Marine Decapod Crustacea of Southern Australia: A Guide to Identification, page 145

   America's favorite seafood, shrimp has always been a big seller at the Home Port. On any given day, we usually served around 40 to 50 pounds of shrimp.

   2011, Will Holtham, Home Port Cookbook: Beloved Recipes from Martha's Vineyard, page 142

   How many shrimps do you have to eat / Before you make your skin turn pink? / Eat too much and you'll get sick / Shrimps are pretty rich

   2014, Kero Kero Bonito, “Flamingo” (overall work in English and Japanese)

   Synonyms: prawn

2. uncountableThe flesh of such crustaceans.

   Synonyms: prawn

3. countableslanguncountableA small, puny or unimportant person.
4. countableslanguncommonuncountableSynonym of butterface

   Synonyms: prawn, biffer, boner-shrinker, bonerkiller, buttface, choad, frump, minger

5. countablederogatoryfigurativelyslanguncountableA small penis.

   shrimp dick

   Synonyms: baby carrot, baby cock, baby dick, dicklet, dickling, dicklit, clit, clitty · Antonyms: cunt buster, donkey cock, donkey dick, horse cock, horse dick, monster cock, monsterdick, supercock

present singular third person shrimps · participle present shrimping · participle past shrimped · past shrimped

1. intransitiveTo fish for shrimp.

   Although the line is not always sharply drawn, offshore shrimping and inshore shrimping require different strategies.

   1996, Anthony V. Margavio, Caught in the Net: The Conflict Between Shrimpers and Conservationists, page 24

   2 more examples

   Fishing, shrimping and crabbing are permitted on designated areas of the refuge subject to the following conditions:[…]

   1986, The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America, page 454

   There were times we shrimped in the same boat due to breakdowns and such, but for the most part we each had our own separate boat. We started out using outboard motor boats. However, shrimping with an outboard is pretty hard.

   2007, Jerry Wayne Caines, A Caines Family Tradition: A Native Son's Story of Fishing, Hunting and Duck Decoys in the Lowcountry, page 86

2. To contract; to shrink.

1. abbreviationacronymAcronym of sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe.

plural Shrimps

1. ball gamesA player, supporter or other person connected with Morecambe Football Club.