Crawfished

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To withdraw from a previously agreed position or to back down from a stance
2. To pull back or reverse an earlier decision or commitment
3. To step back from a claim or stance, especially after showing reluctance or changing one's mind

Etymology: "Crawfished" is the past tense of "crawfish," which in American English means to back out of a commitment or retreat from a position. The verb grew from the noun "crawfish," a name for the freshwater crustacean. That animal's name has a long, tangled history: Middle English "crevis" came from Old French "crevice," meaning "crab," which in turn traces to French "écrevisse," the word that also gives us "crayfish." Speakers in the 1600s reshaped the name into "crawfish" through folk etymology, reinterpreting the first syllable as the verb "crawl" and the ending as "fish," even though the animal is neither a fish nor a creature that crawls backward. The crustacean's habit of retreating backward when threatened gave the idiom its sense of retreat. The verb's meaning, "to back down," therefore rests on a simple observation of the animal's movement, not on any link to fish or crawling.