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Webster 1913 Edition


Clam

Clam

(klăm)
,
Noun.
[Cf.
Clamp
,
Clam
,
Verb.
T.
,
Clammy
.]
1.
(Zool.)
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.
You shall scarce find any bay or shallow shore, or cove of sand, where you may not take many
clampes
, or lobsters, or both, at your pleasure.
Capt. John Smith (1616).
Clams
, or
clamps
, is a shellfish not much unlike a cockle; it lieth under the sand.
Wood (1634).
2.
(Ship Carp.)
Strong pinchers or forceps.
3.
pl.
(Mech.)
A kind of vise, usually of wood.
Blood clam
.
See under
Blood
.

Clam

(clăm)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Clammed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Clamming
.]
[Cf. AS.
clæman
to clam, smear; akin to Icel.
kleima
to smear, OHG.
kleimjan
,
chleimen
, to defile, or E.
clammy
.]
To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.
A swarm of wasps got into a honey pot, and there they cloyed and
clammed
Themselves till there was no getting out again.
L’Estrange.

Clam

,
Verb.
I.
To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.
[R.]
Dryden

Clam

,
Noun.
Claminess; moisture.
[R.]
“The clam of death.”
Carlyle.

Clam

,
Noun.
[Abbrev. fr.
clamor
.]
A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.
Nares.

Clam

,
Verb.
T.
&
I.
To produce, in bell ringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.
Nares.

Webster 1828 Edition


Clam

CLAM

,
Noun.
[See the Verb.] The popular name of certain bivalvular shell-fish, of many species.

Definition 2024


clam

clam

English

Littleneck clams, of the species Mercenaria mercenaria

Noun

clam (plural clams)

  1. 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.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 3, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      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.
  2. Strong pincers or forceps.
  3. A kind of vise, usually of wood.
  4. (US, slang) A dollar (usually used in the plural).
    Those sneakers cost me fifty clams!
  5. (slang, derogatory) A Scientologist.
    • 1998 February 23, jesparolini, “CO$ Celebrities: USEFUL IDIOTS”, in alt.religion.scientology, Usenet:
      So the clams have John Travolta, Tom Cruise, et al in their hot li'l ol'P-R hands []
Translations

Verb

clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed)

  1. To dig for clams.
Translations

Derived terms

See also

Etymology 2

Noun

clam (plural clams)

  1. A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)

Verb

clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed)

  1. To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)

Etymology 3

From Middle English clammen (to smear, bedaub), from Old English clǣman (to smear, bedaub). Compare German klamm (clammy). The sense of "sticky; to stick" came from a conflation of clemen (to bedaub, plug a hole with something sticky (as clay or pitch); to stick) (which was derived from Old Norse kleima) and clammen (to smear, bedaub) (which derives from Old English clæman) in the Middle English period. See also clammy (damp, cold and sticky) and clem (to adhere, stick, plug (a hole)).

Adjective

clam (comparative clammer, superlative clammest)

  1. (obsolete) clammy.
Noun

clam

  1. clamminess; moisture
    • Carlyle
      The clam of death.
Verb

clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed)

  1. To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)
  2. To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.
    • L'Estrange
      A swarm of wasps got into a honey pot, and there they cloyed and clammed themselves till there was no getting out again.

Anagrams


Catalan

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkɫam/
  • Rhymes: -am

Noun

clam m (plural clams)

  1. clamor

Synonyms


Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱl-, zero-grade form of *ḱel- (to hide, conceal). Cognate to Latin cēlō.

Pronunciation

Adverb

clam (not comparable)

  1. clandestinely, secretly, privately
  2. stealthily

Preposition

clam

  1. (with accusative or, rarely, ablative) without the knowledge of, unknown to
    • 163 B.C.E. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos, Act II, Scene II:
      Neque adeo clam me est.
      Nor indeed is it unknown to me.

Derived terms

Related terms

References