Meaning & use
lobster
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A large sea animal with a hard shell, eight legs, and two big front claws, often eaten as food.
Grammar: Countable: one lobster, two lobsters. When talking about the meat, it is uncountable: We had lobster for dinner.
Patterns
- a lobster
- lobster for dinner
- catch lobster
We saw a huge lobster in the tank at the restaurant.
She ordered lobster with melted butter.
The fishermen pulled up their traps full of lobster.
noununcountable
The flesh of this animal eaten as food, usually served hot with butter.
Grammar: Uncountable when it means the food: I'd like some lobster, not a lobster (which means a whole live animal).
Patterns
- eat lobster
- lobster with butter
- a lobster dish
Lobster is considered a luxury food in many countries.
He doesn't eat lobster because he's allergic to shellfish.
The menu offers steak or lobster.
Word forms
| plural | lobsters |
|---|
Common combinations
- lobster trap
- The boat was loaded with empty lobster traps.
- lobster claw
- The crab has one large lobster claw.
- lobster roll
- We ate lobster rolls at the seaside café.
- lobster dinner
- They celebrated their anniversary with a lobster dinner.
Synonyms and how they differ
- crayfish
- A smaller, freshwater animal that looks like a lobster but is not the same species.
- crustacean
- A general scientific word for this group of animals, including crabs, shrimp, and lobster.
Word family
- lobster verb
- Rare: to catch lobsters. The usual verb is 'to go lobstering'.
- lobsterman noun
- A person who catches lobsters for a living.
Commonly confused: lobster or crab?
lobster vs crab
A crab is a similar sea animal but has a rounder body and no large front claws like a lobster's.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'lobster' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A lobster' refers to the live animal, so 'saw a lobster swimming' is correct. Option 1 is wrong because 'a lobster' as food would mean a whole live animal on the plate; you would say 'some lobster' or 'a lobster dish'. Option 2 is wrong because lobsters are sea animals, not birds. Option 3 is wrong because lobsters live in the sea, not gardens.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lobster”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.