rock lobster

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A large sea animal with a hard shell and long feelers but no large front claws, eaten as seafood.

   Grammar: Countable: one rock lobster, two rock lobsters; the plural can also stay 'rock lobster' when talking about the food.

   Patterns

   • a rock lobster
   • catch rock lobster
   • rock lobster tails

   Rock lobsters hide in rocky places during the day and come out to feed at night.

   The fishermen brought in a good catch of rock lobster.

   We grilled rock lobster tails with garlic butter for dinner.

2. 2noununcountable

   The meat of this animal eaten as food.

   Grammar: Uncountable when it means the food: rock lobster is on the menu, not 'a rock lobster is on the menu'.

   Patterns

   • eat rock lobster
   • serve rock lobster

   Rock lobster is a specialty of the coastal restaurants there.

   The menu offers rock lobster with rice and salad.

Word forms

Common combinations

catch rock lobster

Local boats catch rock lobster along this coast from October to May.

rock lobster tail

Each plate came with a grilled rock lobster tail.

fresh rock lobster

The market sells fresh rock lobster every morning.

a species of rock lobster

This species of rock lobster lives only in warm, shallow water.

Synonyms and how they differ

spiny lobster

The more technical name for the same animal; it is common in scientific and food-industry writing.

crayfish

Used for this animal in Australia and South Africa, but in North America 'crayfish' usually means a much smaller freshwater animal.

lobster

In everyday restaurant use this often means the same thing, but strictly a lobster has large claws and a rock lobster does not.

Word family

lobster noun

A similar sea animal, usually with large front claws.

Commonly confused: rock lobster or crawfish?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “rock lobster”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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