Meaning & use
langoustes
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“langoustes” is a form of “langouste”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nouncountable
Large sea crustaceans with long spiny antennae and no large front claws, eaten as seafood.
Grammar: Countable: one langouste, two langoustes; the plural is the headword here.
Patterns
- a plate of langoustes
- fresh langoustes
- langoustes grilled with garlic
The restaurant serves langoustes split in half and grilled over charcoal.
Fishermen brought in several langoustes along with the day's catch.
Langoustes are sweeter and firmer than ordinary lobsters, many chefs say.
noununcountable
The meat of this crustacean served as food, especially in French cooking.
Grammar: Uncountable when it means the food on a plate: langouste for two, please.
Patterns
- langouste with butter
- order the langouste
We ordered langouste with a lemon butter sauce for the main course.
The menu lists langouste as the most expensive dish on the page.
Word forms
| singular | langouste |
|---|
Common combinations
- grilled langouste
- Grilled langouste is a specialty of the coastal towns here.
- langouste with garlic butter
- They serve langouste with garlic butter and fresh bread.
- catch langoustes
- Local boats catch langoustes in rocky waters near the shore.
- a langouste shell
- She kept the langouste shell to make stock for soup.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spiny lobster
- The everyday American name for the same animal; use it in the US, and langouste in British or French menus.
- rock lobster
- Common in Australia and New Zealand; it refers to the same clawless crustacean.
- crayfish
- A much smaller freshwater relative; it is not the same animal, though the names are sometimes loosely mixed up.
Word family
- langouste noun
- The singular form, used for one animal or one portion of the meat.
Commonly confused: langoustes or lobster? langoustes or langoustine?
langoustes vs lobster
A true lobster has big front claws; a langouste does not, though both are large edible crustaceans.
langoustes vs langoustine
A langoustine is a small, slim lobster-like creature (also called a Dublin Bay prawn or scampi), much smaller than a langouste.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'langoustes' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Langoustes' is a plural countable noun, so it fits after 'two' in sentence A. B is wrong because 'a' needs the singular 'langouste'; C wrongly uses the plural as a singular noun; D uses it as a verb, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “langoustes”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.