oyster
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English[edit]
An oyster (bivalve of family Ostreidae) (Ostrea edulis
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɔɪ.stə(ɹ)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɔɪ.stɚ/
- Rhymes: -ɔɪstə(ɹ)
Audio (US) (file)
Noun[edit]
oyster (plural oysters)
- Any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers.
- 1597-8, William Shakespeare, “Act II, Scene II”, in The Merry Wives of Windsor:
- Why, then the world's mine oyster
- 1731, Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation, 1841, The Works of Jonathan Swift, Volume 2, page 344,
- He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.
- 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.
- oyster colour:
- (colloquial, by analogy) A person who keeps secrets.
- (Britain, slang) A shoplifter.
Derived terms[edit]
- American oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
- Atlantic oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
- Belon oyster (Ostrea edulis)
- black-bordered oyster (Saxostrea gradiva)
- black-lip pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera)
- bluff oyster (Ostrea chilensis)
- box oyster
- bunch oyster (Ostrea frons)
- Ceylon pearl oyster (Pinctada vulgaris)
- Chilean oyster (Ostrea chilensis)
- Chincoteague oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
- cockscomb oyster (Pycnodonta hyotis, Ostrea cristi-galli)
- Colchester native oyster (Ostrea edulis)
- common European oyster (Ostrea edulis)
- coon oyster (Ostrea frons)
- corn oyster
- dredge oyster (Ostrea chilensis)
- eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
- edible oyster (Ostrea edulis)
- European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis)
- feather oyster (Pteriidae)
- fresh-water oyster (Etheria spp.)
- gold-lip oyster (Pinctida maxima)
- green oyster (Ulva lactuca)
- hammer oyster (Malleus spp. etc.)
- Hong Kong oyster (Magallana hongkongensis)
- hooded oyster (Saccostrea cucullata)
- Japanese oyster (Magallana gigas)
- king oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii)
- mangrove oyster (Ostrea frons)
- Miyagi oyster (Magallana gigas)
- mountain oyster
- mud oyster (Ostrea edulis)
- Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida)
- oyster ball
- oysterbank
- oyster bar
- Oyster Bay
- oyster bed
- oyster borer (Haustrum scobina)
- Oyster card
- oystercatcher (Haematopus spp.)
- oyster cellar
- oyster crab (Zaops ostreus)
- oyster cracker
- oyster drill (Ocenebrinae gen. and spp.)
- oyster farm
- oysterfish (Tautoga onitis)
- oyster grass
- oyster house
- oysterish
- oyster knife
- oyster leech (Stylochus frontalis)
- oysterless
- oysterlike
- oysterling
- oysterman
- oyster mushroom (Pleurotus)
- oyster nut (Telfairia pedata)
- oyster parlor
- oyster pink
- oyster piracy
- oyster pirate
- oyster plant (Tragopogon porrifolius)
- oyster Rockefeller
- oyster saloon
- oyster sauce
- oystershell bark louse (Lepidosaphes ulmi)
- oystershell scale (Lepidosaphes ulmi)
- oyster shooter
- oysters Kilpatrick
- oysters rockefeller
- oyster toadfish (Batrachoididae)
- oyster tree (Rhizophora)
- oyster white
- oyster wife
- oysterwoman
- oystery
- Pacific oyster (Magallana gigas)
- pearl oyster (Pteriidae gen. and spp., Pinctada margaritifera)
- pilgrim oyster (Pectinidae etc.)
- Portuguese oyster (Crassostrea angulata)
- prairie oyster
- racoon oyster (Ostrea frons)
- rock oyster
- Rocky Mountain oyster
- saddle oyster (Placuna sella, Anomia)
- scalloped oyster
- seed oyster
- Spanish oyster (Pinnidae)
- spiny oyster (Spondylus)
- Sydney rock oyster (Saccostrea glomerata, Anomia spp.)
- the world is one's oyster
- thorny oyster (Spondylus)
- tree oyster (Pleurotus spp.)
- true oyster (Ostreidae gen. and spp.)
- vegetable oyster (Tragopogon porrifolius)
- Viennese oyster
- Virginia oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
- Wellfleet oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
- windowpane oyster (Placuna placenta)
- woods oyster
Translations[edit]
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food
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colour
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person who keeps secrets
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.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 2-syllable words
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