clam dip

1 5.2

A cold creamy mixture of chopped clams and cream cheese eaten with crackers or chips

noun
/klæm dɪp/

: dip de almejas

Everyone enjoyed the creamy clam dip paired with tortilla chips during the game.

Examples

For the party, I prepared a delicious clam dip served with crispy crackers.
Would you like a little clam dip, doll?

There's Something About Mary (1998)
She served homemade clam dip as an appetizer at the family gathering.

Synonyms

dip

vsclam dip

68 1.0

A thick sauce you put food into before eating

is cold and creamy, made with soft cream cheese and served as an appetizer

How Thick

spread

12 1.1

clam dip

1 5.2

dip

68 1.0

sauce

569 1.0

Surface Forms

clam dip singular

clam dips plural

Morphology

clam + dip

The meaning of 'clam dip' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'clam' (a shellfish) with 'dip' (a thick condiment): it denotes a dip made from clams. This simple noun‑noun composition follows common English compounding patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Clam dip gets its name from the clear picture of chopped clams mixed into a creamy dip that people scoop with crackers at parties. So, 'clam dip' today means a cold, creamy appetizer made from clams.