shrimp Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun disparaging terms for small people
    peewee; runt; half-pint.
  2. noun any of various edible decapod crustaceans
    prawn.
  3. noun small slender-bodied chiefly marine decapod crustaceans with a long tail and single pair of pincers; many species are edible
  4. verb fish for shrimp

WordNet

Shrimp transitive verb
Etymology
Cf. AS. scrimman to dry up, wither, MHG. schrimpfen to shrink, G. schrumpfen, Dan. skrumpe, skrumpes, Da. & Sw. skrumpen shriveled. Cf. Scrimp, Shrink, Shrivel.
Definitions
  1. To contract; to shrink. Obs.
Shrimp noun
Etymology
OE. shrimp; -- probably so named from its shriveled appearance. See Shrimp, v.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of numerous species of macruran Crustacea belonging to Crangon and various allied genera, having a slender body and long legs. Many of them are used as food. The larger kinds are called also prawns. See Illust. of Decapoda. (b) In a more general sense, any species of the macruran tribe Caridea, or any species of the order Schizopoda, having a similar form. (c) In a loose sense, any small crustacean, including some amphipods and even certain entomostracans; as, the fairy shrimp, and brine shrimp. See under Fairy, and Brine.
  2. Figuratively, a little wrinkled man; a dwarf; -- in contempt.
    This weak and writhled shrimp. Shak.

Webster 1913