Nouns

(n)crayfish, crawfish, crawdad, ecrevissetiny lobster-like crustaceans usually boiled briefly
(n)crayfish, crawfish, crawdad, crawdaddysmall freshwater decapod crustacean that resembles a lobster
(n)spiny lobster, langouste, rock lobster, crawfish, crayfish, sea crawfishlarge edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace but lacking the large pincers of true lobsters

Verbs

(v)retreat, pull back, back out, back away, crawfish, crawfish out, pull in one's horns, withdrawmake a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity“We'll have to crawfish out from meeting with him”, “He backed out of his earlier promise”, “The aggressive investment company pulled in its horns”