English Explanatory Dictionary

clam

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria), hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria), sea clams or hen clams (Spisula solidissima), and other species, possibly originally applied to clams of species Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.
  2. A type of strong pincers or forceps.
  3. A kind of vise, usually of wood.
  4. A dollar.
  5. A Scientologist.
  6. A vagina or vulva.
  7. A wrong or misplaced note.
  8. One who clams up; a taciturn person, one who refuses to speak.
  9. mouth (Now found mostly in the expression shut one's clam)
verb
  1. To dig for clams.
noun
  1. A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.
verb
  1. To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.
adj
  1. Clammy.
noun
  1. clamminess; moisture
verb
  1. To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.
  2. To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.
noun
  1. Alternative form of CLAM.
verb
  1. Alternative form of clem (“to starve”).
noun
  1. Acronym of Clip-on Load Adjusting Mechanism, a device that can be fitted onto an oar to adjust the set.

Pronunciation

/klæm/ [kleəm] en-us-clam.ogg

Word forms

clam clams clamming clammed clammer clammest clem C.L.A.M.

Etymology

From Middle English clam (“pincers, vice, clamp”), from Old English clam (“bond, fetter, grip, grasp”), from Proto-West Germanic *klammjan (“press, squeeze together”). The sense “dollar” may allude to wampum. The sense "Scientologist" alludes to the Scientologist belief that human thetans (souls) previously inhabited clams.

Related words

clammy

Derived words

American jackknife clam amethyst gem clam Arctic surf clam ark clam Asian clam Asiatic clam Atlantic jackknife clam Atlantic surf clam bamboo clam bar clam basket clam beach clam bean clam bearded clam bear paw clam big-necked clam black clam blood clam boring clam butter clam butterfly clam calico clam cherrystone clam chestnut clam Chinese clam clamato clambake clam bake clambroth clamburger clam cake clam chowder clamdigger clamdiggers Clam Falls clam gun clam hoe Clam Lake clamless clam licker clamlike clammish clam rake clam shack clamshell clam-shell clam shrimp clam smacker Clam Union clam worm coquina clam crocus clam dipper clam disco clam duck clam electric clam elephant trunk clam Essex clam fingernail clam fluted giant clam

Translations

Abenaki: als Algonquin: poquauhock Asturian: amasuela Asturian: almexa Asturian: cáscara Basque: txirla Belarusian: малю́ск Belarusian: двухра́кавінкавы малю́ск Bulgarian: ми́да Burmese: ခုံးကောင် Catalan: cloïssa Cheyenne: hexōvo Chinese Cantonese: 蜆 /蚬 Chinese Mandarin: 蚌 Chinese Mandarin: 蛤 Chinese Mandarin: 蛤蜊 Chinese Mandarin: 蜆 /蚬 Chinese Mandarin: 文蛤 Corsican: vongola Cree: ᐁᓴ Cree: ᐁᓯᐢ Czech: škeble Dutch: mossel Esperanto: ruditapo Esperanto: muslo Esperanto: pekteno Finnish: simpukka French: palourde French: praire Galician: ameixa German: Muschel German: Venusmuschel German: Klaffmuschel Greek: αχιβάδα Hebrew: צֶדֶף Hebrew: צִדְפָּה Hungarian: kagyló Ido: muslo Inuktitut: ammuumajuq (ammuumajuq) Irish: breallach Italian: vongola Italian: tellina Italian: arsella Japanese: 蛤 Japanese: ハマグリ Japanese: 浅蜊 Japanese: アサリ Korean: 조개 Lakota: tuki Latin: mollusca Macedonian: школка Malay: kepah Marshallese: jenǫ Mi'kmaq: e's Mohegan-Pequot: suksuw Mohegan-Pequot: poqáh Navajo: chʼosh bitsʼaʼ doolkʼoolígíí Norwegian: musling Norwegian: blåskjell Southern Ohlone: hakkaw Ojibwe: es
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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