crayfish |?kre?f??| noun ( pl. same or -fishes) (also freshwater crayfish) a nocturnal freshwater crustacean that resembles a small lobster and inhabits streams and rivers.

crayfish
• Several genera in the infraorder Astacidea, class Malacostraca, including Astacus of Europe and Cambarus of North America. (also marine crayfish) another term for spiny lobster . ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French crevice, of Germanic origin and related to German Krebs (see crab 1 ). In the 16th cent. or earlier the second syllable was altered by association with fish 1 .