clam

clam — noun

1. a small ocean animal whose soft fleshy interior is enclosed by two flat, roundis

1.nounB1
Definition

a small ocean animal whose soft fleshy interior is enclosed by two flat, roundish shells that close tightly together; it is often found buried in coastal sands and gathered for eating.

Example

The restaurant serves fresh clams with garlic butter every Friday evening.

collocation: fresh clams + garlic butter

The children spent the afternoon digging for clams at the beach near their house.

collocation: dig for clams

Common collocations
  • fresh clams
  • steamed clams
  • fried clams
  • dig for clams
  • clam chowder
  • clam bake
Synonyms
  • mussel

    a similar shellfish with a darker, thinner shell that is usually blue-black in colour

  • oyster

    another bivalve shellfish eaten raw or cooked, with a rougher, more irregular shell

  • scallop

    a shellfish with a fan-shaped shell that has ridges; the large round muscle inside is the part commonly eaten

Grammar Patterns

plural form 'clams' for food references

Usage Note

When referring to clams as food on a plate, the plural form 'clams' is more common than the singular ('a plate of steamed clams' not 'a plate of steamed clam').

clam — verb

Word family

  • clamming
    nounC1
  • clammer
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe bivalve molluscs — sea animals with two-part shells — but they differ in shell appearance, habitat, and culinary use. A 'clam' has thick, rounded, smooth shells and lives buried in sand or mud; it is commonly steamed or used in chowder. A 'mussel' has a long, dark blue-black shell and attaches itself to rocks or piers with thin threads ('byssus'); it is often served steamed in white wine. An 'oyster' has a rough, irregular grey shell and lives attached to hard surfaces on the seabed; it is typically eaten raw on the half shell or fried. A 'scallop' has a fan-shaped, ribbed shell that opens wide and is famous for the large, sweet white muscle (the 'scallop meat') that people pan-fry or grill. In conversation, 'I'll have the clams' orders the whole shellfish in its shell, whereas 'I'll have the scallops' refers to the meat only.

clam ↗musseloysterscallop

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • clam bake
  • clam digging
  • clam season

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

The word 'clam' comes from Old English 'clam' meaning 'a clamp or a bond,' a reference to how the two halves of the shell grip each other tightly. English speakers began using it for the sea animal by the early 1500s. The verb sense 'to dig for clams' appeared in American English around the 1800s, as coastal communities turned clam-digging into a common pastime and trade.