Catching or fishing for crawfish; also used colloquially to mean backing out of a commitment or retreating.
From 'crawfish' with the gerund suffix '-ing.' The metaphorical sense (backing out) developed because crawfish move backward.
The American expression 'crawfishing out' or 'crawfishing backwards' is a perfect example of how animals inspire our slang—crawfish move tail-first, so their behavior literally became slang for retreating.
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