oyster
Syllables: oy·sterUK/ˈɔɪ.stə//ˈɔɪ.stɚ/
oyster noun: any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers. Also the ellipsis of Oyster card.
Noun
oyster (plural oysters)
- Any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers.
- Piſt. Why then the world's mine Oyſter, which I, with ſword will open.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “Dialogue II”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […] B[enjamin] Motte […], published 1738...
- The delicate oyster-shaped morsel of dark meat contained in a small cavity of the bone on each side of the lower part of the back of a fowl.
- Cut remaining skin on back. Remove the oyster (choice dark meat in spoon-shaped bone on back) with the leg.1971, United States Bureau of Naval Personnel, “Food preparation”, in Steward 3 & 2, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 148
- Any of the fungi in the genera Pleurotus, Hohenbuehelia, or other related genera.
- A pale beige color tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.
- A person who keeps secrets.
- Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave I. Marley’s Ghost.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 3
- I will not be a human oyster. No, I will lay my cards on the table, which is assuredly a thing that oysters do not do.1928, Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train
- Something at one's disposal.
- He asked a major Chicago retailer with a large store in the heart of the city about the socioeconomic character of his customers. The man replied proudly that the entire range of economic classes was his oyster.1959, Vance Packard, The Status Seekers, Pocket Books, published 1971, →ISBN, page 116
- A shoplifter.
Adjective
oyster (comparative more oyster, superlative most oyster)
- Of a pale beige colour tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.
Verb
oyster (third-person singular simple present oysters, present participle oystering, simple past and past participle oystered)
- To fish for oysters.
- Most Fishneck watermen oystered in winter, using the same small skiffs from which they potted crabs in summer. Sometimes two men oystered from the same boat or took along a son or younger brother to cull oysters (separate those of legal size from undersized ones and shell).1986, Carolyn Ellis, Fisher Folk: Two Communities on Chesapeake Bay, University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN, page 77
Proper noun capitalized: Oyster
Oyster (plural Oysters)
- A surname.
Also used as
oyster is also the ellipsis of Oyster card.
oyster meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
oyster in Hindi
- mollusk — see also clam, mollusc, mussel
- सीप sīp, शुक्ति śukti
oyster in Tamil
- mollusk — see also clam, mollusc, mussel
- சிப்பி cippi
oyster in Marathi
- ऑयस्टर
oyster in Urdu
- mollusk — see also clam, mollusc, mussel
- شکتی śukti
More languagesFewer languages
- oyster in Bengali
- ঝিনুক jhinuk
- oyster in Telugu
- గుల్ల gulla
- oyster in Malayalam
- മുത്തുച്ചിപ്പി muttuccippi
- oyster in Kannada
- ಸಿಂಪಿ
- oyster in Gujarati
- છીપ, ઓઇસ્ટર
- oyster in Sinhala
- බෙල්ලා bellā
- oyster in Tagalog
- talaba
- oyster in Arabic
- مَحَار maḥār
- oyster in Malay
- tiram
- oyster in Indonesian
- tiram
- oyster in Persian
- گوشماهی gušmâhi, اویستر oyster
- oyster in Thai
- หอยนางรม hɔ̌i-naang-rom, มุก múk
- oyster in Vietnamese
- hàu, sò
- oyster in Myanmar
- ကမာ ka.ma
Examples of oyster in a sentence
- The oyster is a sedentary mollusk; the barnacles are sedentary crustaceans.
- According to an old adage, oysters are best in months containing the letter R.
- I felt sick, as though I'd just eaten a dozen bad oysters.
Forms of oyster
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | oysters |
| alternative form | erster |
| alternative form (obsolete) | oister |
| alternative form (obsolete) | oystre |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more oyster |
| superlative | most oyster |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | oysters |
| present participle | oystering |
| past participle | oystered |
| past | oystered |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Oysters |
Origin of oyster
From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which is from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon). Doublet of ostro (“a purple dye”).
Uncertain. Perhaps a nickname for someone who cultivated or sold oysters.
Words formed from oyster
- American oyster
- Atlantic oyster
- Belon oyster
- black-bordered oyster
- black-lip pearl oyster
- bluff oyster
- box oyster
- bunch oyster
- Ceylon pearl oyster
- Chilean oyster
- Chincoteague oyster
- cockscomb oyster
- Colchester native oyster
- common European oyster
- coon oyster
- corn oyster
- dredge oyster
- eastern oyster
- edible oyster
- European flat oyster
- feather oyster
- fresh-water oyster
- Glasgow oyster
- gold-lip oyster
- green oyster
- hammer oyster
- Hong Kong oyster
- hooded oyster
- Japanese oyster
- king oyster mushroom
- mangrove oyster
- Miyagi oyster
- mountain oyster
- mud oyster
- Murrumbidgee oyster
- Olympia oyster
- oyster ball
- oysterbank
- oyster bar
- Oyster Bay
- oyster bed
- oyster blade
- oyster blade steak
- oysterboat
- oyster borer
- oyster cake
- Oyster card
- oystercatcher
- oyster cellar
- Oyster Cove
- oyster crab
- oyster cracker
- oyster drill
- oysterer
- oyster farm
- oysterfish
- oyster fruit
- oyster grass
- oysterhood
- oyster house
Phrases with oyster
- oyster bars
- oyster beds
- oyster wife
- rock oyster
- seed oyster
- tree oyster
- fried oyster
- oyster balls
- oyster cakes
- Oyster cards
- oyster crabs
- oyster farms
42 more phrasesFewer phrases
- oyster knife
- oyster plant
- oyster sauce
- oyster wives
- pearl oyster
- spiny oyster
- woods oyster
- oyster blades
- oyster drills
- oyster houses
- oyster knives
- oyster omelet
- oyster parlor
- oyster plants
- oyster saloon
- oyster sauces
- saddle oyster
- thorny oyster
- oyster omelets
- oyster parlors
- oyster saloons
- oyster shooter
- prairie oyster
- raccoon oyster
- Oyster Bay pine
- oyster crackers
- oyster mushroom
- oyster omelette
- oyster shooters
- Viennese oyster
- Virginia oyster
- Oyster Bay pines
- oyster mushrooms
- oyster omelettes
- scalloped oyster
- vegetable oyster
- windowpane oyster
- oyster Rockefeller
- oyster blade steaks
- king oyster mushrooms
- Rocky Mountain oyster
- the world is someone's oyster
Words that rhyme with oyster
Questions about oyster
- What does oyster mean?
- Oyster means any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers.
- What is oyster in Hindi?
- Oyster in Hindi is सीप (sīp), शुक्ति (śukti). See Oyster meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is oyster?
- Oyster can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce oyster?
- Oyster is pronounced /ˈɔɪ.stə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of oyster?
- The plural of oyster is oysters.
Words near oyster in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: oyster (page history and authors); Oyster (page history and authors); oyster (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oyster (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oyster (Gujarati, 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-oyster.ogg.
Cite this entry: “oyster.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/oyster. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.