Definition of LOBSTER

lobster

Meanings

Plural: lobsters

Noun

  • flesh of a lobster
  • any of several edible marine crustaceans of the families Homaridae and Nephropsidae and Palinuridae
  • 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.
  • Various 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.
  • Various other crustaceans that resemble true lobsters:
  • A slipper lobster (a crustacean of the family Scyllaridae).
  • Various other crustaceans that resemble true lobsters:
  • A squat lobster.
  • 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.

Adj

  • Red-colored, especially from a sunburn.

Verb

  • To fish for lobsters.
  • To trick someone into viewing a picture of a blue lobster accompanied by an excerpt of Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

Origin / Etymology

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.

Synonyms

lobsterback, red as a lobster, redcoat

Scrabble Score: 9

lobster is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
lobster is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
lobster is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

lobster is a valid Words With Friends word