clam

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /klæm/ (General American, æ-raising) IPA(key): [kleəm] ~ [klɛəm] (Standard Southern British, Northern England, Scotland, Wales) IPA(key): /klam/ (Australia) IPA(key): /klæːm/ (Australia, æ-raising) IPA(key): [kleːm] ~ [klɛːm] (New Zealand) IPA(key): /klɛm/ Rhymes: -æm === Etymology 1 === 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. ==== Noun ==== clam (plural clams) 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. (historical, in the plural) A type of strong pincers or forceps. A kind of vise, usually of wood. (US, slang, chiefly in the plural) A dollar. (slang, derogatory) A Scientologist. (slang, vulgar) A vagina or vulva. (slang, music) A wrong or misplaced note. (informal) One who clams up; a taciturn person, one who refuses to speak. (dated, US, slang) mouth (Now found mostly in the expression shut one's clam) ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed) To dig for clams. ===== Derived terms ===== clam up ===== Translations ===== ==== See also ==== clammy === Etymology 2 === ==== Noun ==== clam (plural clams) A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once. ==== Verb ==== clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed) To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang. === Etymology 3 === From Middle English clammen, clemen (“to smear, bedaub”), from Old English clǣman (“to smear, bedaub”). Cognate with German klamm (“clammy”). See also clammy (“damp, cold and sticky”) and clem (“to adhere, stick, plug (a hole)”). ==== Alternative forms ==== clem ==== Adjective ==== clam (comparative clammer, superlative clammest) (obsolete) Clammy. ===== Derived terms ===== ==== Noun ==== clam clamminess; moisture ==== Verb ==== clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed) To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere. To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter. === Etymology 4 === ==== Noun ==== clam (plural clams) (rowing) Alternative form of CLAM. === Etymology 5 === ==== Verb ==== clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed) Alternative form of clem (“to starve”). === References === “clam”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. === Anagrams === ALCM, CAML, Caml, Malc, calm == Catalan == === Etymology === From Latin clamor, possibly borrowed through Old French clamor. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈklam] Rhymes: -am === Noun === clam m (plural clams) clamor Synonym: clamor == Latin == === Etymology === From Proto-Italic *klām, perhaps an adverbial accusative from Proto-Indo-European *ḱl-eh₂- (“concealment”) from *ḱel- (“to hide, conceal”). Cognate with Latin cēlō and others. === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈkɫãː] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈklam] === Adverb === clam (not comparable) clandestinely, secretly, privately Antonyms: pūblicē, apertē, vulgō, prōpalam, palam stealthily ==== Derived terms ==== clanculō clanculum ==== Related terms ==== clanculārius clandestīnō clandestīnus === Preposition === clam (+ accusative, ablative) without the knowledge of; unknown to 163 B.C.E. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos, Act II, Scene II: === References === === Further reading === “clam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “clam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers "clam", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) “clam”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. == Middle English == === Etymology === From Old English clām, from Proto-West Germanic *klaim, from Proto-Germanic *klaimaz. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /klaːm/ === Noun === clam (plural clames) (Early Middle English, hapax legomenon) plaster, poultice ==== Descendants ==== English: cloam Yola: claam ==== References ==== “clām, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. == Old English == === Etymology 1 === From Proto-West Germanic *klaim (“mortar, clay”). ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): /klɑːm/ Rhymes: -ɑːm ==== Noun ==== clām m mud ===== Declension ===== Strong a-stem: ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== Middle English: clamEnglish: cloamYola: claam === Etymology 2 === ==== Alternative forms ==== clom ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): /klɑm/ Rhymes: -ɑm ==== Noun ==== clam m bond, fetter, grip, grasp ===== Declension ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== Middle English: clam English: clam == Old Irish == === Etymology === From Proto-Celtic *klamos (“sick, leprous”). Cognate with Welsh claf (“sick, ill”). === Noun === clam m or f leper ==== Usage notes ==== The noun's gender depends on the leper's gender. If the leper is male, it is masculine. If the leper is female, it is feminine. ==== Inflection ==== ==== Descendants ==== Middle Irish: clam === Mutation === === References === === Further reading === Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 clam”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language