crab
n.— «“South Africa caught a crab unrelated to that. They were on the other side of their lane. Unfortunately, the way it looked in their protest, in the preliminary stage, has disqualified us.” A crab, in rowing parlance, occurs when an oar is placed too deep in the water, making it impossible for the rower to fluidly remove it without breaking the team’s rhythm.» —“Canadian rowers lose final appeal” CBC (Can.) Aug. 20, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...
While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you eavesdrop on discussions about which words should be...