clam

English

Wikipedia

Littleneck clams; the pictured mollusks are of the species Mercenaria mercenaria.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /klæm/, SAMPA: /kl{m/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æm

Noun

clam (plural clams)

1. A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; as, the long clam (Mya arenaria), the quahog or round clam (Venus mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (Spisula solidissima), and other species of the United States. The name is said to have been given originally to the Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.
2. Strong pincers or forceps.
3. A kind of vise, usually of wood.
4. (US, slang) A dollar (usually used in the plural). Possibly originating from the term wampum.

   Those sneakers cost me fifty clams!

Translations

mollusc

Bulgarian: мида (bg) f. Catalan: cloïssa (ca) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 蚌 (zh) (bàng), 蛤 (zh) (gé), 蛤蜊 (zh) (gélí), 蜆 (zh), 蚬 (zh) (xiǎn), 文蛤 (zh) (wéngé) Dutch: mossel (nl) f. Finnish: simpukka (fi) French: palourde (fr) f., praire (fr) m. Galician: ameixa (gl) f. Ido: muslo Italian: vongola (it) f., tellina (it) f., arsella (it) f.

Japanese: 蛤, ハマグリ (hamaguri); 浅蜊, アサリ (asari) Korean: 조개 (ko) (jogae) Macedonian: школка (mk) (škólka) f. Navajo: chʼosh bitsʼaʼ doolkʼoolígíí Norwegian: musling (no) Portuguese: amêijoa (pt) f. Russian: моллюск (ru) m. Serbian: шкољка (sr) (školjka) f. Spanish: almeja (es) f. Swedish: mussla (sv) c. Turkish: istiridye (tr)

Verb

clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed)

1. To dig for clams.

Derived terms

• clam chowder
• clamshell
• clam up
• giant clam

See also

• clammy

Anagrams

• calm

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɫam/, SAMPA: /"k5am/
• Rhymes: -am

Noun

clam m. (plural clams)

1. clamor

Synonyms

• clamor

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱl-, the zero-grade variant of Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-. Cognate to Latin cēlō.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /klam/

Adverb

clam (not comparable)

1. clandestinely, secretly, privately
2. stealthily

Derived terms

• clanculō
• clanculum

Related terms

• clanculārius
• clandestīnō
• clandestīnus

References

• clam in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879