crabbed: [13] Because of their tendency to deploy their pincers at the slightest provocation, and also perhaps because of their sidelong method of locomotion, crabs seem always to have had a reputation for being short-tempered and perverse. Hence the creation of the adjective crabbed, which literally means ‘like a crab’. Its meaning has subsequently been influenced by crab the apple, famous for its sourness. (The semantically similar crabby is a 16th-century formation.)
late 14c., "peevish, angry, ill-tempered," from crab (n.1), from the crab's combative disposition; mid-15c. as "resembling a crab" in reference to crookedness. Of taste "bitter, harsh," late 14c., from crab (n.2).
双语例句
1. His mature composi tions are generally considered the more cerebral and crabbed.
他成熟的作品一般被认为是触动理智的和难于理解的.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
2. He met a crabbed, cantankerous director.
他碰上了一位坏脾气、爱争吵的主管。
来自辞典例句
3. The crabbed, patient experimenting of these Arab alchemists spread into the Christian world.
这些阿拉伯炼金术士难以捉摸、坚韧不拔的实验方法传人基督教世界.
来自英汉非文学 - 历史
4. The tightly packed words crabbed across the page.
紧紧挤在一起的字斜斜地横在页面上.
来自互联网
5. Broadside winds crabbed the boat close to riverbank.
