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clam

noun
/klæm/

Etymology

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.

  1. derived from *klammjan✻ — “press, squeeze together”
  2. inherited from clam — “bond, fetter, grip, grasp”
  3. inherited from clam — “pincers, vice, clamp”

Definitions

  1. A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible

    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.

    • 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

  2. A type of strong pincers or forceps.

  3. A kind of vise, usually of wood.

  4. ›+ 16 more definitions

    1. A dollar.

      • Those sneakers cost me fifty clams!
      • The network canceled—nonco-operation their legal shysters said. Suing me, for, for ten million clams, damages to sponsors, agencies.

    2. A Scientologist.

      • So the clams have John Travolta, Tom Cruise, et al in their hot li'l ol'P-R hands […]

    3. A vagina or vulva.

    4. A wrong or misplaced note.

    5. One who clams up

      One who clams up; a taciturn person, one who refuses to speak.

    6. mouth (Now found mostly in the expression shut one's clam)

      • Why, he hasn't opened his clam since that morning in your room. I expected he would hold forth on every and all occasions.
      • Jason wouldn't shut his clam about the invaders.

    7. To dig for clams.

    8. A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.

      • By the bells standing too long in leading compass, the rest are thrown and jumbled together; whereby claps and clams so unpleasing to the hearers are occasion'd.

    9. To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor

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

    10. Clammy.

      • Ice is said to be clam, when beginning to melt with the sun or otherwise, and not easy to be slid upon.

    11. clamminess

      clamminess; moisture

      • The clam of death.

    12. To be moist or glutinous

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

      • A chilling sweat , a damp of jealousy, Hangs on my brows, and clams upon my limbs

    13. To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.

      • A whole Swarm of Wasps got into a Hony-pot, and there they Cloy'd and Clam'd themselves till there was no getting Out again.

    14. Alternative form of CLAM.

    15. Alternative form of clem (“to starve”).

    16. Acronym of Clip-on Load Adjusting Mechanism, a device that can be fitted onto an oar to…

      Acronym of Clip-on Load Adjusting Mechanism, a device that can be fitted onto an oar to adjust the set.

      • The CLAM can be 'clipped on' by the rower with little difficulty, so the load can be changed between alternating headwind–tailwind pieces.
      • Use a clam to make a quick or temporary change to the inboard/outboard...The clam sits against the outer face of the collar.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for clam. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA