shrimp

shrimp
    n 1: disparaging terms for small people [syn: {runt}, {shrimp},
         {peewee}, {half-pint}]
    2: any of various edible decapod crustaceans [syn: {prawn},
       {shrimp}]
    3: small slender-bodied chiefly marine decapod crustaceans with
       a long tail and single pair of pincers; many species are
       edible
    v 1: fish for shrimp
    

Shrimp \Shrimp\, v. t. [Cf. AS. scrimman to dry up, wither, MHG.
   schrimpfen to shrink, G. schrumpfen, Dan. skrumpe, skrumpes,
   Da. & Sw. skrumpen shriveled. Cf. {Scrimp}, {Shrink},
   {Shrivel}.]
   To contract; to shrink. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]
    

Shrimp \Shrimp\, n. [OE. shrimp; -- probably so named from its
   shriveled appearance. See {Shrimp}, v.]
   1. (Zool.)
      (a) Any one of numerous species of macruran Crustacea
          belonging to {Crangon} and various allied genera,
          having a slender body and long legs. Many of them are
          used as food. The larger kinds are called also
          {prawns}. See Illust. of {Decapoda}.
      (b) In a more general sense, any species of the macruran
          tribe {Caridea}, or any species of the order
          Schizopoda, having a similar form.
      (c) In a loose sense, any small crustacean, including some
          amphipods and even certain entomostracans; as, the
          fairy shrimp, and brine shrimp. See under {Fairy}, and
          {Brine}.
          [1913 Webster]

   2. Figuratively, a little wrinkled man; a dwarf; -- in
      contempt.
      [1913 Webster]

            This weak and writhled shrimp.        --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Opossum shrimp}. (Zool.) See under {Opossum}.

   {Spector shrimp}, or {Skeleton shrimp} (Zool.), any slender
      amphipod crustacean of the genus {Caprella} and allied
      genera. See Illust. under {Laemodopoda}.

   {Shrimp catcher} (Zool.), the little tern ({Sterna minuta}).
      

   {Shrimp net}, a dredge net fixed upon a pole, or a sweep net
      dragged over the fishing ground.
      [1913 Webster]
    

116 Moby Thesaurus words for "shrimp":
      Chilopoda, Chordata, Dungeness crab, Echiuroidea, Ectoprocta,
      Entoprocta, Japanese crab, Lilliputian, Monoplacophora, Nemertinea,
      Phoronidea, Tom Thumb, a nobody, a nothing, angle, bait the hook,
      bantam, banty, blue point, bob, brownie, button, chit, cipher,
      clam, common man, coquillage, crab, crawdad, crawfish, crayfish,
      dap, dib, dibble, diminutive, drive, dummy, dwarf, elf,
      featherweight, figurehead, fingerling, fish, fly-fish, gig, gnome,
      go fishing, grig, guddle, homunculus, insignificancy, jack,
      jacklight, jackstraw, jig, langouste, lightweight, limpet,
      little fellow, little guy, littleneck clam, lobster, man of straw,
      manikin, mediocrity, midge, midget, mini, minikin, minnow, minny,
      mouse, mussel, nebbish, net, nobody one knows, nonentity, nubbin,
      obscurity, oyster, peewee, periwinkle, pip-squeak, pony, prawn,
      punk, pygmy, quahog, runt, scallop, scrub, seine, shellfish, slip,
      small fry, small potato, small potatoes, snail, snip, snippet,
      soft-shell crab, spin, squirt, squit, steamer, still-fish, tit,
      torch, trawl, troll, wart, whale, whelk, whiffet, whippersnapper,
      wisp