Clam
Clam (klam) , noun
[Compare Clamp, Clam, transitive verb, Clammy.]
1.
(Zoology) 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.
Clams, or clamps, is a shellfish not much unlike a cockle; it lieth under the sand.
2.
(Ship Carpentry) Strong pinchers or forceps.
3.
(Mechanics) A kind of vise, usually of wood.
Collocations (1)
Blood clam , See under Blood.
Clam (clam) , transitive verb
[Compare Anglo-Saxon claman to clam, smear; akin to Icelandic kleima to smear, Old High German kleimjan, chleimen, to defile, or English 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.
Clam , intransitive verb
To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere. [Rare] — Dryden
Clam , noun
Claminess; moisture. [Rare]
The clam of death.
Clam , noun
[Abbrev. from clamor.]
A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once. — Nares
Clam , verb, transitive and intransitive
To produce, in bell ringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang. — Nares