any of various short-tailed crustaceans with a wide flat body and five pairs of legs, the first pair of which are usually pincers; commonly referred to as [[蟹|蟹|xie4]]

at a loss as to what to do; used to describe being in a state of panic or confusion, like a crab in boiling water

(zoology) A type of small freshwater or brackish-water crab that lives in burrows along riverbanks and marshes; it can be destructive to dikes and crops.

(xiehōuyǔ) used to describe a situation where people are acting in a frantic, disorganized, or chaotic manner; based on the image of a crab crossing a river with its many legs moving in different directions