boston crab: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

While it is a standard and effective technique in the controlled environment of professional wrestling (where cooperation is involved), its practical application in a real, uncooperative fight would be highly difficult and risky due to the exposed position required to set it up.

Its precise origins are unclear, but it was popularised and heavily associated with British wrestler and coach Billy Riley and the wrestlers he trained at his gym in Wigan, England, known as the 'Snake Pit'.

In a standard Boston crab, the attacker faces the opponent's legs. In a reverse Boston crab, the attacker faces the opponent's head, applying pressure in a slightly different manner. Both are considered variations of the same fundamental hold.

The name likely comes from the opponent's arched, bent-over position, which resembles a crab's posture, and the idea of the attacker's legs 'pinching' or hooking around the opponent's arms and torso.

A professional wrestling hold where the attacker sits on the opponent's back, hooks their legs around the opponent's arms, and pulls backward to arch the back.

Boston crab is usually specialized / technical in register.

Boston crab: in British English it is pronounced /ˈbɒstən kræb/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈbɔːstən kræb/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.