Crabwise
/ˈkræb.waɪz/noun
Moving sideways like a crab, or in an indirect, evasive way.
Did you know?The word is built from the animal name crab plus the adverbial suffix -wise, and it captures a very old English habit of using a creature’s motion as a model for human behavior.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
crabba
“crab, the sideways-moving shellfish”
Old English
OE
-wise
“in the manner of; with respect to”
Middle English
ME
crabbe wise
“in the manner of a crab; sideways”
19th Century
English
crabwise
“moving sideways like a crab, or indirectly”
Modern English
English
crabwise
“sideways or obliquely; not directly”