crawdad

[ kraw-dad ]

noun

1. crayfish ( def 1 ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of crawdad¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1900–05; craw(fish) + dad (perhaps dad ¹ ); doodad

Example Sentences

That right there is a thumbnail sketch of Kya, the heroine of Where the Crawdads Sing, the film adaptation of Delia Owens’ 2018 runaway best-seller.

From Time

Fiction books were the most popular overall, including The Vanishing Half, Where the Crawdads Sing, The Midnight Library, and The Four Winds.

From Quartz

The five-year arrangement will begin with the 2022 slate of movies, which is scheduled to include Marvel film "Morbius," best-selling book adaptation "Where the Crawdads Sing" and the Brad Pitt thriller "Bullet Train."

From Washington Post

I put a shiny minnow or a dark old crawdad on my hook and throw it far out over the edge of the old fishing hole.

From Project Gutenberg

More About Crawdad

What does crawdad mean?

Crawdad is American slang for a crayfish, a freshwater crustacean related to the lobster.

Crustaceans are shellfish and include crabs, lobsters, and shrimp. Crawdad, crawdaddy, crawfish, and crayfish all refer to the same general type of animal, but there are several different species. Crawdad is mostly used in the Central Midwestern region of the United States, but its use extends to several states.

Example: Missouri is crawdad country—we call ’em “Midwestern lobsters.”

Where does crawdad come from?

The first records of the word crawdad come from the early 1900s. The first part of the word comes from crawfish, which is another term for crayfish. Crayfish aren’t fish—the word comes from an alteration of the Middle English crevice, from the Middle French crevice, from the Old High German crebiz, meaning “crab.” The -dad in crawdad may be the same ending found in the word doodad.

Crawdad and crawdaddy are Americanisms, meaning they’re primarily used in the United States. But use of the terms varies by region. Crawdad and crawdaddy are most often used in Midwestern states and along the West Coast. Crawfish is the prevalent term in much of the South, whereas crayfish is the preferred term in the Northeast. Crawdad can refer to any freshwater crustacean from the genus Astacus or the genus Cambarus. Crawdads are decapods, meaning they have 10 walking legs. They are mostly small, lobster-like creatures, like the spiny lobster, also called the rock lobster.

Did you know ... ?

What are some synonyms for crawdad?

• crawdaddy
• crawfish
• crayfish

What are some words that may share a root or word element with crawdad? 

• crawfish
• doodad

What are some words that often get used in discussing crawdad?

• crustacean
• decapod
• shellfish
• spiny lobster
• rock lobster
• freshwater

How is crawdad used in real life?

Crawdad is a regional slang term, and people like to debate whether such creatures are properly called crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads.

people who refer to crayfish as crawdads show yourselves, y’all wild

— Vasely Sapunov (@vaselysapunov) April 1, 2019

CRAWDAD.
CRAYFISH.
CRAWFISH.

What is a small freshwater lobster called? 🤔

— Kari Steele (@KariVanHorn) September 12, 2018

there was also the incident where Mr. Tanaka assigned Max to dispose of a bunch of dead crawdads during science class and the 6th grade math teacher walked into the women's bathroom to find Max trying to flush rotting crawdads down the toilet

— Rachel Alexander (@rachelwalexande) February 20, 2020

 

 

Try using crawdad!

Is crawdad used correctly in the following sentence?

When I was a kid, we used to catch crawdads in the creek.