oyster
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- oystre (obsolete)
Etymology[edit]
Old English ostre, from Latin ostrea; reinforced or superseded in Middle English by Anglo-Norman oistre, from Old French oistre, uistre (modern French huître), also from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
oyster (plural oysters)
- Any marine bivalve mollusk of the Family Ostreidae, usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers.
- A name popularly given to the delicate morsel of dark meat contained in a small cavity of the bone on each side of the lower part of the back of a fowl.
- A pale beige color tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.
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oyster colour:
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- (colloquial, by analogy) A person who keeps secrets and private information to him- or herself.
Quotations[edit]
- 1597-8, William Shakespeare, “Act II, Scene II”, in The Merry Wives of Windsor:
- Why, then the world 's mine oyster"
Translations[edit]
mollusk
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food
colour
person who keeps secrets or private information to his or herself
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Adjective[edit]
oyster (comparative more oyster, superlative most oyster)
- Of a pale beige colour tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.
Verb[edit]
oyster (third-person singular simple present oysters, present participle oystering, simple past and past participle oystered)
- (intransitive) To fish for oysters.
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
See also[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English colloquialisms
- English adjectives
- English verbs
- en:Colors
- en:Greys
- en:Mollusks
- en:Seafoods
