CRAB, a sort of wooden pillar, whose lower end, being let down through a ship's decks, rest upon a socket like the capstern; and having in its upper end, three or four holes, at different heights, through the middle of it, one above another, into which long bars are thrust, whose length is nearly equal to the breadth of the neck. It is employed to wind in the cable, or to purchase any other weighty body which requires a great mechanical power. This differs from a capstern, as not being furnished with a drum-head, and by having the bars to go entirely through it, reaching from one side of the deck to the other; whereas those
of the capstern, which are superior in number, reach Crab-yaws only about eight inches or a foot into the drum-head, according to its size. See CAPSTERN.