Link Centre Dictionary

clam

UK/klæm/ US/kleəm/ fairly common informal slang us
noun (3) verb (1)

noun

1.

burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud

2.
3.

flesh of either hard-shell or soft-shell clams

verb

1.

gather clams, by digging in the sand by the ocean

Origin

From Middle English clam (“pincers, vice, clamp”), from Old English clam (“bond, fetter, grip, grasp”), from Proto-West Germanic *klammjan (“press, squeeze together”). The sense “dollar” may allude to wampum. The sense "Scientologist" alludes to the Scientologist belief that human thetans (souls) previously inhabited clams.

Phrases

  • American jackknife clam
  • amethyst gem clam
  • Arctic surf clam
  • ark clam
  • Asian clam
  • Asiatic clam
  • Atlantic jackknife clam
  • Atlantic surf clam
  • clam up

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.