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Clam - 13 dictionary results
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clam

1  [klam] noun, verb, clammed, clam⋅ming.
Use Clam in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of various bivalve mollusks, esp. certain edible species. Compare quahog, soft-shell clam.
2. Informal. a secretive or silent person.
3. clamminess.
4. Slang. a dollar or the sum of a dollar: I only made 60 clams a week.
–verb (used without object)
5. to gather or dig clams.
—Verb phrase
6. clam up, Slang. to refuse to talk or reply; refrain from talking or divulging information: The teacher asked who had thrown the eraser, but the class clammed up.
Origin:
1585–95; short for clam-shell, i.e., bivalve with a shell that clamps. See clam 2 , shell

Related forms:
clamlike, adjective
clammer, noun

clam

2  [klam]
–noun
1. British Dialect. clamp 1 (defs. 1–3).
2. Machinery. (formerly) pincers.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE, deriv. of clamm fetter, grasp; c. G Klamm fetter; akin to clamp
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Clam
clam 1   (klām)   
n.  
    1. Any of various usually burrowing marine and freshwater bivalve mollusks of the class Pelecypoda, including members of the genera Venus and Mya, many of which are edible.
    2. The soft edible body of such a mollusk.
  2. Informal A close-mouthed person, especially one who can keep a secret.
  3. Slang A dollar: set me back 75 clams.
intr.v.   clammed, clam·ming, clams
To hunt for clams.
Phrasal Verb(s):
clam up Informal To refuse to talk.

[From obsolete clam-shell, shell that clamps, clam, from clam2.]
clam'mer n.
clam 2   (klām)   
n.  A clamp or vise.

[Middle English, from Old English clam, clamm, bond, fetter.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Clam

Clam\, n. [Cf. Clamp, Clam, v. t., Clammy.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) 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 coclke; 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

Clam\ (cl[a^]m), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Clammed; p. pr. & vb. n. Clamming.] [Cf. AS. cl[ae]man 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

Clam\, v. i. To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere. [R.] --Dryden

Clam

Clam\, n. Claminess; moisture. [R.] "The clam of death." --Carlyle.

Clam

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

Clam

Clam\, v. t. & i. To produce, in bell ringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang. --Nares.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Clam
Spanish: almeja,
German: die Venusmuschel,
Japanese: はまぐり
More Translations »

clam 
c.1500, "bivalve mollusk," originally Scottish, from M.E. clam "pincers, vice, clamp," from O.E. clamm "bond, fetter," from P.Gmc. *klam-. Clambake is from 1835. Clam up is 1916, Amer.Eng., but clam was used in this sense as an interjection c.1350.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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CLAM mathematics, tool
A system for symbolic mathematics, especially General Relativity. It was first implemented in ATLAS assembly language and later Lisp.
See also ALAM.
["CLAM Programmer's Manual", Ray d'Inverno & Russell-Clark, King's College London, 1971].
(1994-11-08)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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clam

In addition to the idiom beginning with clam, also see happy as the day is long (as a clam).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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