Clam Definition

klăm
clammed, clamming, clams
noun
clams
Any of various hard-shell, usually edible, bivalve mollusks, some of which live in the shallows of the sea, others in fresh water.
Webster's New World
The soft, edible part of such a mollusk.
Webster's New World
A close-mouthed person, especially one who can keep a secret.
American Heritage
A reticent or taciturn person.
Webster's New World
Webster's New World
verb
clammed, clamming, clams
To dig, or go digging, for clams.
Webster's New World

To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.

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

To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.

Wiktionary
idiom
clam up
  • to keep silent or refuse to talk
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Clam

Noun

Singular:
clam
Plural:
clams

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Clam

Origin of Clam

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

    From Wiktionary

  • 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

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