Meaning & use
crabbing
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The activity of catching crabs, often with a line, net or trap, for food or fun.
Grammar: No plural and no article: go crabbing.
Patterns
- go crabbing
We went crabbing off the pier on Saturday.
Crabbing is popular with children in summer.
He took a bucket and line crabbing.
noununcountableinformal
The act of complaining in a bad-tempered way.
Grammar: From the verb crab, to grumble; informal.
Patterns
- stop crabbing about something
His constant crabbing annoyed the team.
I got tired of her crabbing about the weather.
All the crabbing in the office lowered morale.
Common combinations
- go crabbing
- Let's go crabbing at low tide.
- crabbing line
- Tie bacon to the crabbing line.
- crabbing trip
- The crabbing trip was fun.
- crabbing bucket
- The crabbing bucket was full.
- crabbing net
- A crabbing net helps you lift your catch.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fishing
- Fishing is the general word for catching fish, not specifically crabs.
- grumbling
- Grumbling is the common word for complaining quietly and has no crab image.
- complaining
- Complaining is neutral, while crabbing sounds more ill-tempered.
Word family
Commonly confused: crabbing or crabbed?
crabbing vs crabbed
Crabbed describes cramped handwriting or a grumpy manner, not the activity.
Practice
The children spent the afternoon ___ from the pier with a bucket and a line.
Choose one answer.
Crabbing means catching crabs. Clamming means digging clams, and crabby is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “crabbing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.