Past tense of crawfish; to back out of a position or promise, retreat, or withdraw shamefully from a commitment.
From 'crawfish,' which is a variant of 'crayfish' that became a verb meaning to retreat (because crayfish move backward). The past tense '-ed' is added regularly. It likely developed from American English where crawdad/crawfish are common.
The verb 'crawfished' is pure American slang genius—comparing someone who breaks a promise to a crayfish moving backward is such a vivid image that it perfectly captures sneaky retreat!
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