Meaning & use
Dublin Bay prawn
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A small orange-pink crustacean with long claws, eaten as seafood and also called a langoustine.
Grammar: Countable: one Dublin Bay prawn, two Dublin Bay prawns. Often used in the plural when talking about food.
Patterns
- a Dublin Bay prawn
- Dublin Bay prawns
The restaurant serves Dublin Bay prawns grilled with garlic butter.
We bought a kilo of Dublin Bay prawns at the fish market.
Dublin Bay prawns look like tiny lobsters and taste sweet.
Word forms
| plural | Dublin Bay prawns |
|---|
Common combinations
- fresh Dublin Bay prawns
- Fresh Dublin Bay prawns are best simply boiled.
- grilled Dublin Bay prawns
- Grilled Dublin Bay prawns with lemon make a quick starter.
- a plate of Dublin Bay prawns
- He ordered a plate of Dublin Bay prawns.
- Dublin Bay prawn cocktail
- The menu lists a Dublin Bay prawn cocktail.
Synonyms and how they differ
- langoustine
- The usual name in restaurants and American English; Dublin Bay prawn is more common in British English.
- scampi
- Often refers to the same crustacean when served breaded and fried, but can also mean a similar dish.
Commonly confused: Dublin Bay prawn or prawn?
Dublin Bay prawn vs prawn
A prawn is a more general word for many small shrimp-like sea animals; Dublin Bay prawn is one specific larger kind with claws.
Practice
Which sentence uses the term correctly?
Choose one answer.
The countable noun is usually plural when talking about a dish or a quantity: 'Dublin Bay prawns'. The singular 'Dublin Bay prawn' is possible for one, but 'for dinner' normally suggests a serving, so the plural is natural. 'Dublin Bays prawn' is wrong because the modifier 'Dublin Bay' does not take -s.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Dublin Bay prawn”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.