CRAB
, in Mechanics, an engine used for mounting guns on their carriages. See Gin.
Crab, on ship-board, is a wooden pillar, whose lower end is let down through the ship's decks, and refts upon a socket like the capstan: in its upper end are three or four holes, at different heights, through the middle of it, above one another, to receive long bars, against which men act by pushing or thrusting.— It is employed to wind in the cable, and for other purposes requiring a great mechanical power.
The Crab with three claws is used to launch ships, and to heave them into the dock, or off the key.
