Library / English Dictionary

CLAM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: clammed    , clamming   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud; the shell closes with viselike firmness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("clam" is a kind of...):

bivalve; lamellibranch; pelecypod (marine or freshwater mollusks having a soft body with platelike gills enclosed within two shells hinged together)

Meronyms (parts of "clam"):

clam (flesh of either hard-shell or soft-shell clams)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clam"):

long-neck clam; Mya arenaria; soft-shell clam; steamer; steamer clam (an edible clam with thin oval-shaped shell found in coastal regions of the United States and Europe)

hard-shell clam; hard clam; Mercenaria mercenaria; quahaug; quahog; round clam; Venus mercenaria (an edible American clam; the heavy shells were used as money by some American Indians)

geoduck (a large edible clam found burrowing deeply in sandy mud along the Pacific coast of North America; weighs up to six pounds; has siphons that can extend to several feet and cannot be withdrawn into the shell)

jackknife clam; knife-handle; razor clam (marine clam having a long narrow curved thin shell)

giant clam; Tridacna gigas (a large clam inhabiting reefs in the southern Pacific and weighing up to 500 pounds)

shipworm; teredinid (wormlike marine bivalve that bores into wooden piers and ships by means of drill-like shells)

Derivation:

clam (gather clams, by digging in the sand by the ocean)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Flesh of either hard-shell or soft-shell clams

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("clam" is a kind of...):

shellfish (meat of edible aquatic invertebrate with a shell (especially a mollusk or crustacean))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clam"):

hard-shell clam; quahaug; quahog; round clam (Atlantic coast round clams with hard shells; large clams usually used for chowders or other clam dishes)

long-neck clam; soft-shell clam; steamer; steamer clam (a clam that is usually steamed in the shell)

Holonyms ("clam" is a part of...):

clam (burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud; the shell closes with viselike firmness)

Derivation:

clam (gather clams, by digging in the sand by the ocean)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A piece of paper money worth one dollar

Synonyms:

buck; clam; dollar; dollar bill; one dollar bill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("clam" is a kind of...):

bank bill; bank note; banker's bill; banknote; bill; Federal Reserve note; government note; greenback; note (a piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank))

Domain region:

America; the States; U.S.; U.S.A.; United States; United States of America; US; USA (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Gather clams, by digging in the sand by the ocean

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "clam" is one way to...):

collect; garner; gather; pull together (assemble or get together)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

In the summer they like to go out and clam

Derivation:

clam (burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud; the shell closes with viselike firmness)

clam (flesh of either hard-shell or soft-shell clams)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“Nay, I spied nothing,” grumbled Sir Oliver, “for I was hurried down with a clam stuck in my gizzard and an untasted goblet of Cyprus on the board behind me.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For millions of years, symbiotic bacteria have lived inside the gills of Lucinidae clams found in seagrass meadows located along tropical coasts, such as the Florida Keys.

(Microbe diversity is key to healthy coastal ecosystems, National Science Foundation)

These bacteria play a crucial role in the clams' survival, while contributing to the overall health of the seagrasses in which the clams live.

(Microbe diversity is key to healthy coastal ecosystems, National Science Foundation)

"This symbiotic process enables the clams and bacteria to live in environments that are not necessarily hospitable," said Clemson University biologist Barbara Campbell.

(Microbe diversity is key to healthy coastal ecosystems, National Science Foundation)

For over a year he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam digger and a salmon fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and bed.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)