crabbing

verb

present participle of crab
1
as in complaining
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely their two-year-old whined and crabbed for the whole car trip

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of crabbed the blossoming romance by becoming moody and demanding

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of crabbing From crabbing in the Ashley River with a local expert to learning how to cook from bestselling author and chef Rick Martínez, there’s plenty to look forward to—and Travel + Leisure editors know firsthand. — Jess Feldman, Travel + Leisure, 14 Sep. 2026 Getting a crabbing license isn't easy, and Maryland limits the number to around 5,400 each year to protect the Chesapeake Bay's crab population, which declined between 2011 and 2023. — Brittney Melton, NPR, 14 Aug. 2026 This is a wonderful time to enjoy the great outdoors — surfing and crabbing come to mind. — Ed Silverman, STAT, 17 July 2026 Northside Park, a 58-acre complex that includes pickleball courts, soccer fields, walking and biking trails, and a fishing and crabbing pier, is an ideal spot to stay active. — Katie Riley, Southern Living, 15 July 2026 Members gather on local piers to learn crabbing techniques, understand regulations and try their luck at bringing home fresh seafood. — Loureen Ayyoub, CBS News, 22 June 2026 As the crabbing season gains momentum, Maryland watermen are grappling with a surge in operational expenses, led by high fuel prices that are forcing them to pass rising costs on to consumers. — Tessa Bentulan, Baltimore Sun, 9 June 2026 The Broncos chose to be strategic, their offseason a laser, not a crabbing net. — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 25 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crabbing
  1. complaining
  2. damaging
  3. screaming
  4. marring
  5. whining
  6. injuring
  7. moaning
  8. hurting
Verb
  • The meta levels here (Seyfried playing Holmes complaining about Seyfried’s portrayal of her) may kill me.
    — Emma Specter, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2026
  • These are often the same people complaining that America is raising a generation of wimps.
    — Jonathan Alpert OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of complaining
Verb
  • The 2025 decision came after the group claimed responsibility for breaking into a major air base, RAF Brize Norton, northwest of London, and damaging aircraft.
    — Inaya Folarin Iman, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In October 2025, Baja California’s prosecutor said a drone dropped homemade explosive devices at an anti-kidnapping prosecutor’s office in Tijuana, damaging four vehicles but causing no injuries.
    — Armando Regil Velasco, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of damaging
Verb
  • At an intersection in Hyde Park that, days earlier, had been the scene of chaos — a young girl on the ground, a car with a teenage boy on the windshield, a mother screaming — Jonathan Hale led his band of rebels.
    — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Someone who people think is abrasive and is screaming ‘Love me,’ but punching people at the same time.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of screaming
Verb
  • The Trib is withholding Nick’s full name to avoid marring his reputation in the eyes of future employers or others who might run a search on him.
    — Kate Payne, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The latter track takes overt inspiration from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette, as Jepsen beckons her love to engage in life’s vices with her, like marring bedsheets with fruit stains and dashing nude through the garden.
    — Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of marring
Verb
  • While the left spent all week whining about Sophie Cunningham's hat and firing squad best practices, us PATRIOTS were biding our time, keeping our heads down, and grinding towards another weekend.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Dogs may actually improve our sleep habits by forcing us to adjust to consistent bedtime schedules — as anyone with a sleepy, whining dog can confirm.
    — Gina Vivinetto, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of whining
Verb
  • Strus also will be out for a while after injuring his right foot during training camp.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • This is where Krasner and Pollock lived for nearly 11 years, until Pollock killed himself and one of his passengers, Edith Metzger, while driving drunk, injuring his girlfriend, Ruth Kligman, too.
    — John Yau, ARTnews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of injuring
Verb
  • It's been a big few months for Austin Abrams moaning and groaning his way through some of the worst situations imaginable.
    — Megan McCluskey, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
  • For a cold moment the silence locked a grip on our table, though it was broken, at the edges, by the golf commentators moaning and harrumphing, Rory McIlroy having had a canary on a seventeenth fairway somewhere this championship Sunday.
    — Kevin Barry, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of moaning
Verb
  • Things already had been tough internally amid the engagement challenges hurting Netflix’s stock as high-profile series had not performed to expectations and most returning shows have seen viewership declines season-to-season over the past year.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The nationwide high school protest movement — over deteriorating school buildings, teacher shortages, and inequalities hurting schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods — has energized young voters, who may prove key to the election outcome.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of hurting

Browse Nearby Words

crabbedness
crabbing
crabby
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Cite this Entry

“Crabbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crabbing. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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