clam

English

Wikipedia

Littleneck clams, of the species Mercenaria mercenaria

Etymology 1

From Middle English clam (“pincers, vice, clamp”), from Old English clamm (“bond, fetter, grip, grasp”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /klæm/, X-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!

5. (slang, derogatory) A Scientologist.
   • 1998 23 February, jesparolini, “CO$ Celebrities: USEFUL IDIOTS”, alt.religion.scientology, Usenet:

     So the clams have John Travolta, Tom Cruise, et al in their hot li'l ol'P-R hands […]

Translations

mollusc

• Algonquin: poquauhock
• Bulgarian: мида (bg) (mída) f
• Catalan: cloïssa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蚌 (cmn) (bàng), 蛤 (cmn) (gé), 蛤蜊 (cmn) (gélí), 蜆 (cmn), 蚬 (cmn) (xiǎn), 文蛤 (cmn) (wéngé)

• Czech: škeble (cs) f
• Dutch: mossel (nl) f
• Finnish: simpukka (fi)
• French: palourde (fr) f, praire (fr) m
• Galician: ameixa (gl) f
• German: Muschel (de) f, Venusmuschel (de) f
• Ido: muslo
• Inuktitut: ammuumajuq (iu)
• Italian: vongola (it) f, tellina (it) f, arsella (it) f

• Japanese: 蛤 (ja) (はまぐり, hamaguri), ハマグリ (ja) (hamaguri); 浅蜊 (ja) (あさり, asari), アサリ (ja) (asari)
• Korean: 조개 (ko) (jogae)
• Macedonian: школка (mk) (škólka) f
• Navajo: chʼosh bitsʼaʼ doolkʼoolígíí
• Norwegian: musling (no), blåskjell (no)
• Portuguese: amêijoa (pt) f
• Russian: моллюск (ru) (molljúsk) m, двустворчатый моллюск (ru) (dvustvórčatyj molljúsk) m
• Serbo-Croatian: шкољка (sh) f, školjka (sh) f
• Spanish: almeja (es) f
• Swedish: mussla (sv) c
• Tagalog: kabibe (tl)
• Turkish: istiridye (tr)
• Vietnamese: nghêu (vi)

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

Etymology 2

Noun

clam (plural clams)

1. A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)

Verb

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

1. To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)

Etymology 3

Noun

clam

1. clamminess; moisture
   • Carlyle

     The clam of death.

Verb

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

1. To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Anagrams

• calm

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɫam/, X-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