lobster

Meanings

Adjective

• red-colored, especially from a sunburn.

Noun

• A crustacean of the Nephropidae family, dark green or blue-black in colour turning bright red when cooked, with a hard shell and claws, which is used as a seafood.
• A crustacean of the Palinuridae family, pinkish red in colour, with a hard, spiny shell but no claws, which is used as a seafood.
• A soldier or officer of the imperial British Army (due to their red or scarlet uniform).
• An Australian twenty dollar note, due to its reddish-orange colour.

Verb

• To fish for lobsters.

Related

Similar words

• (British soldier) lobsterback, redcoat

Narrower meaning words

• cray, langouste, spiny lobster, rock lobster

Origin

• From Middle English lopster, from Old English loppestre, believed to be a corruption of Latin locusta + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre.
• Alternatively, from Old English lobbe, loppe + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre, equivalent to lop + -ster.