oyster
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɔɪstə/
ipa: /ˈɔɪstəɹ/
ipa: /ˈɔɪst͡ʃəɹ/
rhymes: -ɔɪstə(ɹ)
Forms: form: oysters
form: erster
form: oister
form: oystre
Etymology: From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which is from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon). Doublet of ostro (“a purple dye”).
Senses: examples: text: Piſt. Why then the world's mine Oyſter, which I, with ſword will open.
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 45, lines 2–5:
text: He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.
ref: 1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “Dialogue II”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […] B[enjamin] Motte […], published 1738, →OCLC, page 120:
glosses: 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.
examples: text: Cut remaining skin on back. Remove the oyster (choice dark meat in spoon-shaped bone on back) with the leg.
ref: 1971, United States Bureau of Naval Personnel, “Food preparation”, in Steward 3 & 2, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 148:
glosses: The delicate oyster-shaped 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.
glosses: A pale beige color tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.
examples: text: Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.
ref: 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave I. Marley’s Ghost.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 3:
qualifier: by analogy
glosses: A person who keeps secrets.
examples: text: He asked a major Chicago retailer with a large store in the heart of the city about the socioeconomic character of his customers. The man replied proudly that the entire range of economic classes was his oyster.
ref: 1959, Vance Packard, The Status Seekers, Pocket Books, published 1971, →ISBN, page 116:
glosses: Something at one's disposal.
glosses: A shoplifter.
glosses: Ellipsis of Oyster card.
Derived terms: taxonomic: Crassostrea virginica
word: American oyster
taxonomic: Crassostrea virginica
word: Atlantic oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea edulis
word: Belon oyster
alt: Saxostrea gradiva
word: black-bordered oyster
taxonomic: Pinctada margaritifera
word: black-lip pearl oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea chilensis
word: bluff oyster
word: box oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea frons
word: bunch oyster
taxonomic: Pinctada vulgaris
word: Ceylon pearl oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea chilensis
word: Chilean oyster
taxonomic: Crassostrea virginica
word: Chincoteague oyster
alt: Pycnodonta hyotis, Ostrea cristi-galli
word: cockscomb oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea edulis
word: Colchester native oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea edulis
word: common European oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea frons
word: coon oyster
word: corn oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea chilensis
word: dredge oyster
taxonomic: Crassostrea virginica
word: eastern oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea edulis
word: edible oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea edulis
word: European flat oyster
english: Pteriidae
translation: Pteriidae
word: feather oyster
alt: Etheria spp.
word: fresh-water oyster
word: Glasgow oyster
alt: Pinctida maxima
word: gold-lip oyster
taxonomic: Ulva lactuca
word: green oyster
taxonomic: Malleus spp. etc.
word: hammer oyster
alt: Magallana hongkongensis
word: Hong Kong oyster
alt: Saccostrea cucullata
word: hooded oyster
alt: Magallana gigas
word: Japanese oyster
taxonomic: Pleurotus eryngii
word: king oyster mushroom
taxonomic: Ostrea frons
word: mangrove oyster
alt: Magallana gigas
word: Miyagi oyster
word: mountain oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea edulis
word: mud oyster
word: Murrumbidgee oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea lurida
word: Olympia oyster
word: oyster ball
word: oysterbank
word: oyster bar
word: Oyster Bay
word: oyster bed
word: oyster blade
word: oyster blade steak
word: oysterboat
alt: Haustrum scobina
word: oyster borer
word: oyster cake
word: Oyster card
taxonomic: Haematopus spp.
word: oystercatcher
word: oyster cellar
alt: Zaops ostreus
word: oyster crab
word: oyster cracker
taxonomic: Ocenebrinae gen. and spp.
word: oyster drill
word: oysterer
word: oyster farm
taxonomic: Tautoga onitis
word: oysterfish
word: oyster fruit
word: oyster grass
word: oysterhood
word: oyster house
word: oysterish
word: oyster knife
taxonomic: Stylochus frontalis
word: oyster leech
word: oysterless
word: oysterlike
word: oysterling
word: oysterman
word: oystermania
english: Pleurotus
translation: Pleurotus
word: oyster mushroom
taxonomic: Telfairia pedata
word: oyster nut
word: oyster omelette
word: oysterous
word: oyster parlor
word: oyster pink
word: oyster piracy
word: oyster pirate
taxonomic: Tragopogon porrifolius
word: oyster plant
word: oyster Rockefeller
word: oyster saloon
word: oyster sauce
word: oystershell
taxonomic: Lepidosaphes ulmi
word: oystershell bark louse
taxonomic: Lepidosaphes ulmi
word: oystershell scale
word: oyster shooter
word: oyster-shucking knife
word: oysters Kilpatrick
word: oysters rockefeller
word: oyster-tecture
english: Batrachoididae
translation: Batrachoididae
word: oyster toadfish
english: Rhizophora
translation: Rhizophora
word: oyster tree
word: oyster white
word: oyster wife
word: oysterwoman
word: oysterwood
word: oystery
alt: Magallana gigas
word: Pacific oyster
taxonomic: Pinctada margaritifera
word: pearl oyster
taxonomic: Pectinidae etc.
word: pilgrim oyster
taxonomic: Crassostrea angulata
word: Portuguese oyster
word: prairie oyster
word: raccoon oyster
taxonomic: Ostrea frons
word: racoon oyster
alt: Saccostrea spp.
word: rock oyster
word: Rocky Mountain oyster
alt: Placuna sella, Anomia
word: saddle oyster
word: scalloped oyster
word: seed oyster
english: Pinnidae
translation: Pinnidae
word: Spanish oyster
english: Spondylus
translation: Spondylus
word: spiny oyster
alt: Saccostrea glomerata, Anomia spp.
word: Sydney rock oyster
word: the world is one's oyster
word: the world is someone's oyster
english: Spondylus
translation: Spondylus
word: thorny oyster
taxonomic: Pleurotus spp.
word: tree oyster
taxonomic: Ostreidae gen. and spp.
word: true oyster
taxonomic: Tragopogon porrifolius
word: vegetable oyster
word: Viennese oyster
taxonomic: Crassostrea virginica
word: Virginia oyster
taxonomic: Crassostrea virginica
word: Wellfleet oyster
english: Placuna placenta
translation: Placuna placenta
word: windowpane oyster
taxonomic: Pleurotus ostreatus
word: woods oyster
Related terms: ostraceous
ostreiculture
ostreophage
ostreophagous
ostriferous