Word.ws English Dictionary

clam

[kleəm] ~ [klɛəm]UK/klæm/

clam noun: 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. Also the alternative form of CLAM.

clam: a bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example soft-shell clams...
Image: Marlith, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

clam (plural clams)

  1. 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.
    • 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...1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter III, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
    • 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 solution1970, “Cherrystones”, in Outlaw, performed by Eugene McDaniels
  2. (historical, in plural) A type of strong pincers or forceps.
  3. A kind of vise, usually of wood.
  4. (US, in plural, slang) 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.1973, Lucas Webb, Stribling, page 188
  5. (derogatory, slang) A Scientologist.
    • So the clams have John Travolta, Tom Cruise, et al in their hot li'l ol'P-R hands […]1998 February 23, jesparolini, “CO$ Celebrities: USEFUL IDIOTS”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet)
  6. (slang, vulgar) A vagina or vulva.
  7. (slang) A wrong or misplaced note.
    • You had too many fucking days off, and you think this is a game? You think I'm the only one that's going to work up there while you motherfuckers sit out there and clam all over this fucking joint? What do you think this is anyhow? What kind of playing do you think this is? What kind of miscues do...1980s, Buddy Rich, bus recording of Buddy Rich by pianist Lee Musiker, YouTube
  8. (informal) One who clams up; a taciturn person, one who refuses to speak.
  9. (US, dated, slang) 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.1900, Burt L. Standish, Frank Merriwell's Tricks: Or True Friends and False
    • Jason wouldn't shut his clam about the invaders.2017, Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Dungeon Brain

Verb (1)

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

  1. To dig for clams.

Noun (2)

clam (plural clams)

  1. 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.1702, Campanologia Improved

Verb (2)

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.
    • When they [bells] lie fifths thus 1 5 2 6 3 7 4 8, 'tis then most pleasant and excellent music to clam them; that is, the two notes of each concord to strike together, and if they be clam'd true the eight bells will strike like four, but with far greater musick and harmony.1702, Campanologia Improved

Adjective

clam (comparative clammer, superlative clammest)

  1. (obsolete) Clammy.
    • Ice is said to be clam, when beginning to melt with the sun or otherwise, and not easy to be slid upon.1808, John Jamieson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language

Noun (3)

clam

  1. clamminess; moisture
    • The clam of death.1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number)

Verb (3)

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.
    • A chilling sweat , a damp of jealousy,
      Hangs on my brows, and clams upon my limbs1690, [John] Dryden, Amphitryon; or, The Two Sosia’s. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […]; and M. Tonson […], published 1691, →OCLC, (please specify the page)
  2. 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.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC

Noun (4) capitalized: CLAM

CLAM (plural CLAMs)

  1. (abbreviation, acronym) 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.1995, Larry Gluckman, “Rowing News”, in The Independent Rowing News Inc., page 3
    • Use a clam to make a quick or temporary change to the inboard/outboard...The clam sits against the outer face of the collar.2014, Daniela Gomes da Costa, Yihuan Chang, eds., Learn to Row, Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron, page 28

Also used as

clam is also the alternative form of CLAM.

clam is also the alternative form of clem.

clam meaning in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Kannada

clam in Hindi

क्लैम

clam in Bengali

ক্ল্যাম

clam in Telugu

క్లామ్, క్లాం

clam in Kannada

ಕ್ಲಾಮ್, ಕ್ಲ್ಯಾಮ್
More languagesFewer languages
clam in Punjabi
ਕਲੈਮ
clam in Gujarati
ક્લેમ
clam in Odia
କ୍ଲାମ୍
clam in Nepali
क्ल्याम, क्ल्याम गर्न
clam in Tagalog
kabibe
clam in Malay
kepah
clam in Thai
หอยกาบ h̄xy kāb
clam in Vietnamese
nghêu, sò
clam in Myanmar
ခုံးကောင် hkum:kaung

Examples of clam in a sentence

  • I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter III, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
  • You think I'm the only one that's going to work up there while you motherfuckers sit out there and clam all over this fucking joint?1980s, Buddy Rich, bus recording of Buddy Rich by pianist Lee Musiker, YouTube:

All 40 example sentences with clam

Forms of clam

Noun
pluralclams
pluralCLAMs
alternative formclam
alternative formC.L.A.M.
Verb
third-person singular presentclams
present participleclamming
past participleclammed
pastclammed

Plural of clam: clams

Origin of clam

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.

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)”).

Words formed from clam

Phrases with clam

31 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with clam

47 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about clam

What does clam mean?
Clam means 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.
What is clam in Hindi?
Clam in Hindi is क्लैम. See Clam meaning in Hindi.
How do you use clam in a sentence?
I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats.
What part of speech is clam?
Clam can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce clam?
Clam is pronounced /klæm/ (UK).
What is the plural of clam?
The plural of clam is clams.

Words near clam in the dictionary

  1. clake
  2. clakes
  3. Clallam
  4. Clallam County
  5. Clallams
  6. clam
  7. clam bake
  8. clam bakes
  9. clam cake
  10. clam cakes
  11. clam chowder

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: clam (page history and authors); CLAM (page history and authors); clam (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); clam (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); clam (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); clam (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); clam (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); clam (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); clam (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); clam (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-clam.ogg.

Cite this entry: “clam.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clam. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.