kreef, noun

/ˈkrɪəf/
Forms:
Also kreeft, krief.
Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans, crayfish, adaptation of Dutch kreeft lobster (langouste).
The spiny rock lobster Jasus lalandii; also called crayfish. Also attributive.
1863 Queenstown Free Press 30 JuneA new theological schism has sprung up amongst the Malays, touching the important question whether ‘kreef’ or crawfish is to be considered ceremonially unclean or not.
1871 Cape Monthly Mag. II. Feb. 81Hawkers screaming their wares mid ear-splitting cries of ‘Kreef! kreef!’ ‘Snoek! snoek!’.
1884 J.S. Little S. Afr.: Sketch Bk I. 151The Krief, which resembles our cray fish, and which abounds in the waters of Table Bay..is in itself but a poor libel upon the lobster.
1890 A.G. Hewitt Cape Cookery 5To Boil Kreeft. Wash the kreeft quickly.
1891 H.J. Duckitt Hilda’s ‘Where Is It?’ 42Creef (Potted). (Cape Crawfish.) Boil the creef, mince in the sausage machine, adding all the red meat.
1915 D. Fairbridge Torch Bearer 139‘It is a crustacean,’ said Miss Lumsden kindly, ‘Red when boiled, and with protruding eyes.’ ‘Ach!’ a flash of inspiration came to Cornelia. ‘A crayfish, klein kreef,’ she added.
1936 Nature II. 74 (heading)The Natural History and Utilisation of the Cape Crawfish, Kreef or Spiny Lobster, Jasus (Palinurus) lalandii.
1942 Off. Yr Bk of Union No. 22, 1941 (Union Office of Census & Statistics) 771Research work dealing with the canning processes of the Cape crawfish or Kreef was completed during 1935.
1959 Cape Argus 7 Nov. 11The three months open season for kreef fishing..opened last Sunday.
1968 G. Croudace Black Rose 60The dinner was magnificent, the course Jeremy liked best being baked kreef, served whole, the delicately-flavoured flesh of the tails drenched with a cheese sauce.
1970 G. Croudace Scarlet Bikini 73‘And no kreef,’ Tony said, referring to the rock lobster.
1975 Financial Mail 11 Apr. 112The company called on a local white fish trawling company to buy kreef bait (which consists largely of stockfish and kingklip heads).
1978 S. Afr. Panorama Feb. 45To comply with the European and US marketing requirements, legislation had to be passed in South Africa to change this delectable crustacea’s [sic] name from the local ‘kreef’ or ‘crayfish’ to that of ‘rock lobster’. One reason was that in Europe and the US there are several species of freshwater crustacea, some of which are not edible, known there as ‘crayfish’.
1981 C. Barnard in Daily Dispatch 16 Nov. 8Fishermen will tell you that kreef are more efficient than undertakers at removing corpses. In fact, if you loll around on the bottom long enough, you’ll soon realise there’s no scarcity of crayfish.
1989 E. Platter in Style Aug. 108If you don’t eat a kreef within, at the most 24 hours of catching it,..you’ll never get the luscious leg meat to slip out as easily as it ought.
1990 J. Cullum in Weekend Post 7 Apr. 3Eating crayfish these days means forking out megabucks...This is the sombre news for lovers of the delicate taste of kreef.
1993 J. Nel in Getaway Nov. 52Collectors of kreef and perlemoen..should come armed with permits.
The spiny rock lobster Jasus lalandii; also called crayfish. Also attributive.
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Afrikaans
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krantz, krans, nounn.kremetart, nounn.
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