shrimp
/ʃɹɪmp/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.79 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of many swimming, often edible, crustaceans, chiefly of the infraorder Caridea or the suborder Dendrobranchiata, with slender legs, long whiskers and a long abdomen.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Example Sentences
- "Butter well a deep dish, upon which place a thick layer of pounded biscuit; having picked and boiled your shrimps, put them upon the biscuit; a layer of shrimps, with small pieces of butter, a little pepper, mace or nutmeg."
- "Shrimp farming is in its infancy in Africa. but Asia has most of the world's shrimp farms."
- "Most shrimps belong to one of several families of the Infraorder Caridea (Chapter 4). However, coral shrimps and Venus shrimps are so different from the rest that a separate infraorder is warranted."
- "America's favorite seafood, shrimp has always been a big seller at the Home Port. On any given day, we usually served around 40 to 50 pounds of shrimp."
- "How many shrimps do you have to eat / Before you make your skin turn pink? / Eat too much and you'll get sick / Shrimps are pretty rich"
- "shrimp dick"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-? Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerbʰ-der. Proto-Indo-European *skrembʰ- Proto-Germanic *skrimbaną Proto-Germanic *skrimpaną Proto-Germanic *skrimpazder.? Middle English schrimpe English shrimp From Middle English schrimpe (“shrimp, puny person”), possibly from or related to Middle Low German schrempen (“to wrinkle”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skrimpaz (“shrivelled”), from Proto-Germanic *skrimpaną (“to shrivel”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerbʰ-. See also Middle High German schrimpf (“a scratch, minor wound”), Norwegian skramp (“thin horse, thin man”); also Old English sċrimman (“to shrink”) and scrimp, Middle High German schrimpfen (“to shrink, dry up”), Swedish skrympa (“to shrink”); also Lithuanian skrembti (“to crust over, stiffen”), and possibly Albanian shkrumb (“embers, ashes; crumble”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: schrimpe, schrempen, *skrimpaz, *skrimpaną, *(s)kerbʰ-
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Food.