海老

Verb

 * 1)  to dry up

Noun

 * 1)  alcohol

Etymology 1
→ →

Possibly from, first attested in the  (918 ).

Ultimate derivation unclear, with theories including:
 * Shift in meaning from ebi, ancient reading of modern, from a resemblance in color
 * Shift in reading from epige, proposed compound of +  from the bearded appearance
 * Shift in reading from epige, proposed compound of +  from the bearded appearance

Appears as Yebi in the  of 1603.

The kanji spelling is, in reference to the vague resemblance to a stooped old man. See the kairō reading below.

Noun

 * 1) any long-tailed decapod crustacean or arthropod:
 * 2) a crayfish
 * 3) a lobster
 * 4) a prawn
 * 5) a shrimp
 * : a padlock
 * 1) a type of  with an ebi motif
 * 1) a shrimp
 * : a padlock
 * 1) a type of  with an ebi motif
 * : a padlock
 * 1) a type of  with an ebi motif
 * 1) a type of  with an ebi motif

Usage notes
This term is more generic than the English glosses. Where necessary, the meaning can be clarified by indicating type or size:
 * : shrimp, literally “small ebi”
 * : spiny lobster

Idioms

 * ,, “throw a sprat to catch a mackerel”
 * , something insignificant among great things

Proper noun

 * 1) a place name

Etymology 2
&#42; → →

Probably a coinage in Japan of -derived elements, as +, in reference to the vague resemblance to a stooped old man.

Appears as Cairǒ in the  of 1603.

Noun

 * 1) any long-tailed decapod crustacean or arthropod:
 * 2) a crayfish
 * 3) a lobster
 * 4) a prawn
 * 5) a shrimp

Usage notes
This reading is less common than ebi above.

Proper noun

 * 1) a place name