prawn

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A crustacean of the suborder Dendrobranchiata.

   The aphrodisiac nature of prawns is evident in an epigram by the Greek poet Asclepiades.

2. 2
   noun

   Synonym of butterface: A woman with an attractive body but an unattractive face.

   She's a prawn!

3. 3
   noun

   A fool, an idiot.

   This is utter dribble. I've not read much worse than this in a long time - and he admits he doesn't know - "or so I am told". Get real, you prawn.

4. 4
   noun

   shrimp-like decapod crustacean having two pairs of pincers

5. 5
   noun

   any of various edible decapod crustaceans

6. 6
   verb

   fish for prawns

7. 7
   noun

   A crustacean, sometimes confused with shrimp.

8. 8
   verb

   To fish for prawns.

Etymology

First attested early 1400s as various Middle English forms prayne, prane, praune, and prawne, which present no clear cognates in languages other than English. The forms suggest a hypothetical Old English form *prægn, where *æg would have evolved into Middle English *ay, but it is unclear if the word is of Germanic origin, from another European language, or loaned from a substrate. In the Isle of Wight, a word prankle ("prawn") is recorded and thought to be related. Century, following Skeat, suggested transposition of an unrecorded Old French *parne, *perne related to Spanish perna (“a flat she…