Clam definition

klăm
clammed clamming clams
See word origin
Frequency:
To hunt for clams.
verb
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To clam is to go digging for clams.

An example of clam is to dig for clams at low tide.

verb
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The definition of a clam is an animal that lives in shallow water with a hard shell and no backbone, or is slang for a U.S. dollar.

An example of a clam is one of the main ingredients in the fish stew called cioppino.

An example of a clam is $1.

noun
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Any of various usually burrowing marine and freshwater bivalve mollusks chiefly of the subclass Heterodonta, including members of the families Veneridae and Myidae, many of which are edible.
noun
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The soft edible body of such a mollusk.
noun
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To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.

verb
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A clamp or vise.
noun
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The soft, edible part of such a mollusk.
noun
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(informal) A reticent or taciturn person.
noun
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noun
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A dollar.
noun
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(jazz) A misplayed note.
noun
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To dig, or go digging, for clams.
verb
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A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; as, the long clam (Mya arenaria), the quahog or round clam (Venus mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (Spisula solidissima), and other species of the United States. The name is said to have been given originally to the Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.
noun
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Strong pincers or forceps.
noun
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A kind of vise, usually of wood.
noun
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(US, slang) A dollar (usually used in the plural). Possibly originating from the term wampum.

Those sneakers cost me fifty clams!

noun
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(slang, derogatory) A Scientologist.
noun
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To dig for clams.
verb
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A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.

noun
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noun
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To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.

verb
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To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.
verb
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(informal) A close-mouthed person, especially one who can keep a secret.
noun
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(slang) A dollar.

Owed them 75 clams.

noun
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Any of various hard-shell, usually edible, bivalve mollusks, some of which live in the shallows of the sea, others in fresh water.
noun
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clam up
  • to keep silent or refuse to talk
idiom
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
clam
Plural:
clams

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

Origin of clam

  • From obsolete clam-shell shell that clamps, clam from clam

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English from Old English clam, clamm bond, fetter

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Middle English clam (“pincers, vice, clamp”), from Old English clamm (“bond, fetter, grip, grasp”).

    From Wiktionary

Clam Sentence Examples

  • Do you feel very sad, and say ' ' poor clam ' '?

  • At the bottom of the ocean we saw a giant clam next to a box of treasure.

  • The valves of the giant clam (Tridachna) sometimes attain a length of 5 ft.

  • Its principal industry is the canning of sardines; there are also clam canneries.

  • Imagine linguine with white clam sauce and lots of garlic, substituting the pasta with a crisp, crunchy crust.

More sentences

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Also Mentioned In

Words near clam in the Dictionary