Lobster Meaning

/ˈlɒb.stə/
B1

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounA 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.

nounVarious other crustaceans that resemble true lobsters:, A spiny lobster, also called the rock lobster, a crustacean of the Palinuridae family, pinkish red in colour, with a hard, spiny shell but no claws, which is used as a seafood.

Have some frozen lobster at any rate.
Have some lobster at any rate.
I don't want to eat a live lobster.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The diner cracked the hard shell of the ____ to get the meat from its claws.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They enjoyed a delicious meal of fresh ____ and butter while they were on vacation by the coast tonight.

From Middle English loppestere, lopster, from Old English loppestre, lopustre, lopystre, of uncertain origin. Some believe it to be a corruption of Latin lō̆custa (“grasshopper, locust”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre. In Latin, the phrase lō̆custa marīna (literally "sea-grasshopper") signified a type of crustacean (shrimp or lobster). Alternatively, from Old English lobbe, loppe (“spider”) + the Old English feminine agent suffix -estre, equivalent to lop + -ster.

"[…] how the troops came marching out for evening exercise under Captain Preston; how pedestrians and street urchins taunted them, shouting "Lobsters," "Bloody-backs," and flinging snow-balls, turnips, […]" — 1912, Ralph Davol, Two Men of Taunton: In the Course of Human Events, 1731-1829, page 214:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The diner cracked the hard shell of the ____ to get the meat from its claws.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They enjoyed a delicious meal of fresh ____ and butter while they were on vacation by the coast tonight.

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