Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to tear at, to find fault, to criticize heavily, to complain; thus crabbing n.

1678		J. Ray Proverbs (2nd edn) 368: He that crabs without cause, should mease without mends.
1849		Sam Sly 10 Mar. 2/3: Don’t ‘crab’ each other, you bellicose barbers! customers won't have it.
1859		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 25: crab, to offend, to insult.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 353/1: People might think I was a nose [...] and they would crab me.
1865		R.S. Surtees Facey Romford’s Hounds 160: So they crabbed the great run.
1873		Sportsman (London) ‘Notes on News’ 20 Dec. 4/1: That mining agents are not as rule—given [...] to ‘crab’ their own ventures is probably a fact within the experience of many people.
1891		F.W. Carew Autobiog. of a Gipsey 21: A past-master of the great art of ‘crabbing,’ [...] his ready tongue would soon knock the gilt off the gingerbread.
1894		J. Astley Fifty Years (2nd edn) I 348: I had [...] no enemies to ‘crab’ me.
1897		Truth (Sydney) 10 Jan. 1/1: [headline] ‘Crabbing’ a Blind Man’s ‘Pitch’.
1900		Sporting Times 26 May 1/1: If ever a man seeks to crab your equine property by accusing him of being back, or over, at the knee, round-jointed, [...], you will stop that man’s mouth for ever and aye by the firm pronouncement: — ‘It’s the breed’.
1912		Van Loan ‘Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm’ in Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm 31: Judging by the ‘crabbing’ on the visitors’ bench, the Canaries thought so.
1925		F.S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby 127: The thing to do is to forget about the heat [...] You make it ten times worse by crabbing about it.
1934		J.M. Cain Postman Always Rings Twice (1985) 16: But he was dumb, and kept crabbing.
1940		M. Levin Citizens 252: Those people have no sense. They’ll crab the whole thing.
1950		F. Brown Night of the Jabberwock (1983) 15: And, much as I crab about it, I like living.
1960		C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 170: I’ve listened to you crab about this promotion all year long.
1964		P. White Burnt Ones 241: Who am I to crab somebody we haven’t even met?
1975		L. Rosten Dear ‘Herm’ 257: So where does our Baby hear the bad words Miss Ickelheimer is crabbing about?
1981		S. King Cujo (1982) 163: I don’t want to have to listen to you crabbing at me.
1992		R. Price Clockers 29: ‘What you let him have this shit for?’ Rodney crabbed at his daughter.
2002		Palm Beach Post (FL) 7 Aug. 8/1: I’m crabbing about this relatively new phenomenon [...] it’s become the in thing.
2016		Mavado ‘Big Bumpa Gal’ 🎵 A bad gyal a crab up me back / Under some rass whine.

2. to use offensive language so as to deliberately annoy someone.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 233: To crab a person, is to use such offensive language or behaviour as will highly displease, or put him in an ill humour.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 218/2: If a patterer has been ‘crabbed,’ that is (offended) [...] he mostly chalks a signal on or near the door.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1934		(con. 1920s) J.T. Farrell Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 204: ‘Shake ‘em, Jew!’ crabbed a big, beefy-faced Lakes sailor.

3. to back down, to surrender in a humiliating manner, to run away; esp. as crab off.

1846

in N. Dana Monterrey Is Ours! (1990) 145: Our volunteers are crabbing off in great numbers.

4. to inform on.

1849		Bell’s Life in Sydney 20 Oct. Sept. 3/5: I’ll rob him in spite of you, and [...] I’ll smash your head for crabbing mo.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn) 123: crab to expose or defeat a robbery, to inform against.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.

5. to cheat, to deceive.

1858		A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 100: Any body attempting ‘to crab.’ i.e. cheat, another, should then and there, and without warning, ‘have a broom broke about him’.
1891		F.W. Carew Autobiog. of a Gipsey 228: Shice, who did most of the dirty work [...] alternately ‘crabbed’ and ‘chi-iked’ as the case might require.

6. (mainly US) to steal.

1848		Ladies’ Repository (N.Y.) Oct. VIII:37 316/1: Crab, to pilfer trifling articles.
c.1858		J.H. Green Secret Band of Brothers 113: The word crabbing means Robbing, Stealing, &c.
1939		R. Chandler Big Sleep 168: Sure, a guy could sit on his fanny and crab what another guy done if he knows what it’s all about.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.

7. (also crab up, put the crab on, throw a crab) to spoil, to upset, to ruin; thus Aus. phr. he’d crab on a marble shit house.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 233: crab to prevent the perfection or execution of any intended matter or business, by saying any thing offensive or unpleasant, is called crabbing it, or throwing a crab.
1829		Pierce Egan’s Wkly Courier 22 Mar. 1/4: It was ‘no go’ [...] Weather-all was crabbed because his chancery traits would not give him the pull.
1835		Worcester Herald 26 Dec. 4/3: The crush crabbed it, the police stopped us; crab, to spoil prevent or interrupt.
1851		‘Epistle from Joe Muggins’s Dog’ in Era (London) 10 Aug. 4/2: I doo thinke ther venerable Charles mite hav let us knowne hiz minde a bit sooner, and not hav ‘crab’d ther dele’ in that stile.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn) 123: CRAB [...] to expose or defeat a robbery.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor IV 429/1: The kids used to swarm round us to look at the picture just like flies round a sugar-cask, and that crabbed the business.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 22/2: I told him to ‘cheese it,’ for that I had got a nice young woman to attend to, and that if she overheard him it would sure ‘crab’ on me. [Ibid.] 36/1: So, to put the crab on my gentleman, I boldly stepped out from my corner, and putting on a look, started him smack in the face.
1880		E.J. Milliken ‘Cad’s Calendar’ in Punch Almanack n.p.: Crab your enemies, I’ve got a many, / You can pot ’em proper for a penny.
1890		Sporting Times 11 Jan. 1: That deal was crabbed long before the plate came round for the coppers.
1891		Bird o’ Freedom (Sydney) 28 Mar. 6/1: When hang me, but some regulation they’d start / Which crabbed all my running straight off.
1900		G.R. Sims In London’s Heart 122: The longer the time allowed to the thief to dispose of the plunder without a lot of beastly handbills and police notices to ‘crab the deal’.
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 10: Sam, playing first violin and directing, crabbed the leading woman’s best song.
1911		G. Bronson-Howard Enemy to Society 291: We’ve got jest one chance [...] and we ain’t goin’ to have you ‘crab’ it.
1922		S. Lewis Babbitt (1974) 209: The guy who is so short-sighted as to crab this orchestra proposition is passing up the chance to impress the glorious name of Zenith on some big New York millionaire.
1932		P.G. Cressey Taxi-Dance Hall 111: I had her out two times before but both times something crabbed things up.
1935		C. Drew ‘Gozo’ in Bulletin 27 Mar. 46/2: ‘That’ll be fine,’ says I. ‘It’ll be fine,’ says Lou, ‘if Gozo or what ever you call him don’t pull one of his funny stunts and crab the pitch’.
1936		G. Greene Gun for Sale (1973) 170: There are people who want to crab the practice.
1942		in G. Legman Limerick (1953) 56: There was a young fellow named Babbitt / Who could screw nine times like a rabbit, / But a girl from Johore / Could do it twice more, / Which was just enough extra to crab it.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 51/1: Crab. l. To interfere with or jeopardize another’s plan or action; to rank. 2. To bungle or defeat one’s own criminal ends.
1968		K. Brasselle Cannibals 138: All right, wise ass, you’re crabbing my meeting.
1992		R.G. Barrett White Shoes 93: She couldn’t have me so she crabbed it for you.