clam
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /klæm/
ipa: [kleəm]
rhymes: -æm
Forms: form: clams
Etymology: From Middle English clam (“pincers, vice, clamp”), from Old English clamm (“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.
Senses: examples: text: My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter III, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
text: Long as I have my clams I don't give a damn about revolution / Long as I have my rice I don't have to think twice about a solution
ref: 1970, “Cherrystones”, in Outlaw, performed by Eugene McDaniels:
glosses: A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria), hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria), sea clams or hen clams (Spisula solidissima), and other species, possibly originally applied to clams of species Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.
glosses: A type of strong pincers or forceps.
glosses: A kind of vise, usually of wood.
examples: text: Those sneakers cost me fifty clams!
text: The network canceled—nonco-operation their legal shysters said. Suing me, for, for ten million clams, damages to sponsors, agencies.
ref: 1973, Lucas Webb, Stribling, page 188:
glosses: A dollar.
examples: text: So the clams have John Travolta, Tom Cruise, et al in their hot li'l ol'P-R hands […]
ref: 1998 February 23, jesparolini, “CO$ Celebrities: USEFUL IDIOTS”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet):
glosses: A Scientologist.
glosses: A vagina or vulva.
glosses: In musicians' parlance, a wrong or misplaced note.
glosses: One who clams up; a taciturn person, one who refuses to speak.
examples: text: Why, he hasn't opened his clam since that morning in your room. I expected he would hold forth on every and all occasions.
ref: 1900, Burt L. Standish, Frank Merriwell's Tricks: Or True Friends and False:
text: Jason wouldn't shut his clam about the invaders.
ref: 2017, Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Dungeon Brain:
glosses: mouth (Now found mostly in the expression shut one's clam)
Derived terms: taxonomic: Ensis directus
word: American jackknife clam
alt: Gemma gemma
word: amethyst gem clam
taxonomic: Spisula sachalinensis
word: Arctic surf clam
taxonomic: Arcidae spp.
word: ark clam
word: Asian clam
taxonomic: Corbicula fluminea
word: Asiatic clam
taxonomic: Ensis directus
word: Atlantic jackknife clam
taxonomic: Spisula solidissima
word: Atlantic surf clam
taxonomic: Ensis directus
word: bamboo clam
taxonomic: Spisula solidissima
word: bar clam
taxonomic: Corbulidae spp.
word: basket clam
taxonomic: Spisula solidissima
word: beach clam
taxonomic: Donax gouldii
word: bean clam
word: bearded clam
alt: Hippopus hipoopus
word: bear paw clam
alt: Tresus spp.
word: big-necked clam
alt: Cyclina sinensis
word: black clam
alt: Argina pexata et al.
word: blood clam
taxonomic: Tridacna crocea
word: boring clam
taxonomic: Saxidomus gigantea
word: butter clam
alt: Ellipsaria lineolata
word: butterfly clam
alt: Macrocallista maculata
word: calico clam
english: Mercenaria mercenaria
translation: Mercenaria mercenaria
word: cherrystone clam
taxonomic: Astarte spp.
word: chestnut clam
alt: Cyclina sinensis
word: Chinese clam
word: clamato
word: clam bake
word: clambake
word: clambroth
word: clamburger
word: clam cake
word: clam chowder
word: clamdigger
word: clamdiggers
word: Clam Falls
word: clam gun
word: clam hoe
word: Clam Lake
word: clamless
word: clam licker
word: clamlike
word: clammish
word: clam rake
word: clam shack
word: clam-shell
word: clamshell
word: clam shrimp
word: clam smacker
word: Clam Union
word: clam up
word: clam worm
taxonomic: Donax spp.
word: coquina clam
taxonomic: Tridacna crocea
word: crocus clam
taxonomic: Spisula solidissima
word: dipper clam
taxonomic: Ctenoides ales
word: disco clam
word: duck clam
taxonomic: Ctenoides ales
word: electric clam
alt: Panope generosa
word: elephant trunk clam
taxonomic: Mya arenaria
word: Essex clam
taxonomic: Sphaerium spp.
word: fingernail clam
taxonomic: Tridacna squamosa
word: fluted giant clam
taxonomic: Anodonta spp.
alt: et al.
word: freshwater clam
alt: Tresus spp.
word: gaper clam
taxonomic: Tridacna spp.
word: giant clam
word: happy as a clam
word: happy as a clam at high water
word: hard clam
english: Mercenaria mercenaria
translation: Mercenaria mercenaria
word: hard-shell clam
alt: Leukoma staminea
word: hardshell clam
taxonomic: Cardiidae spp.
word: heart clam
taxonomic: Spisula solidissima
word: hen clam
alt: Tresus spp.
word: horse clam
word: horse's hoof clam
alt: Hippopus hipoopus
word: hoseshoe clam
taxonomic: Mya arenaria
word: Ipswich clam
alt: Cyclina sinensis
word: iron clam
taxonomic: Solen spp.
word: jackknife clam
taxonomic: Venerupis philippinarum
word: Japanese littleneck clam
alt: Panope generosa
word: king clam
alt: Cyclina sinensis
word: Korean clam
alt: Leukoma staminea
word: littleneck clam
english: Mercenaria mercenaria
translation: Mercenaria mercenaria
word: little neck clam
taxonomic: Mya arenaria
word: long-neck clam
word: mahogany clam
taxonomic: Venerupis philippinarum
word: Manila clam
taxonomic: Tridacna maxima
word: maxima clam
taxonomic: Nuculidae spp.
word: nut clam
alt: Lutraria spp.
word: otter shell clam
alt: Panope generosa
word: Pacific clam
alt: Leukoma staminea
word: Pacific littleneck clam
alt: Siliqua patula
word: Pacific razor clam
alt: Ruditapes decussatus
word: Palourde clam
taxonomic: Tridacna spp.
word: paw clam
word: pea clam
taxonomic: Tivela stultorum
word: pismo clam
taxonomic: Ensis directus
word: piss clam
taxonomic: Donax spp.
word: pompano clam
english: Siliqua spp., Solecurtus spp., Solen spp.
translation: Siliqua spp., Solecurtus spp., Solen spp.
taxonomic: Ensis spp.
word: razor clam
alt: Leukoma staminea
word: rock clam
english: Mercenaria mercenaria
translation: Mercenaria mercenaria
word: round clam
taxonomic: Tridacna crocea
word: saffron-coloured clam
taxonomic: Mya arenaria
word: sand clam
taxonomic: Tridacna squamosa
word: scaly clam
taxonomic: Spisula solidissima
word: sea clam
word: shut up like a clam
taxonomic: Tridacna maxima
word: small giant clam
taxonomic: Callista chione
word: smooth clam
word: soft-shell clam
taxonomic: Mya arenaria
word: soft clam
taxonomic: Mya arenaria
word: steamer clam
alt: Hippopus hipoopus
word: strawberry clam
english: Tellinidae spp. et al.
translation: Tellinidae spp. et al.
word: sunrise clam
taxonomic: Spisula solida
word: surf clam
english: Mercenaria mercenaria
translation: Mercenaria mercenaria
word: tea clam
alt: Venerida spp.
word: Venus clam
taxonomic: Saxidomus gigantea
word: Washington clam