A lobster is a large sea animal with a hard shell, long body, and strong claws, often eaten as seafood. It lives on the ocean floor and has many legs and antennae.
It comes from Old English “loppestre,” likely related to words for spiders and crawling creatures. Over time, the word narrowed to the specific shellfish we know today.
Lobster used to be so common and cheap in parts of North America that it was fed to prisoners and servants. Now it’s a luxury food, showing how the value of something can completely flip over time.
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