Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
📦 A plastic case 🚜 A digging tool 🐚 A hinged shell
clamshell

clamshell

1 7.5
A machine bucket with two hinged halves that open to lift mud and sand
  • noun
  • /ˈklæmˌʃɛl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cubeta de compuerta
  • " It was able to separate the liquids and clean up the mess afterwards (with its clamshell bucket).
  • clamshell dredge
  • clamshell laptop

Examples

  • Each hole had to be three feet deep, and it took both of them to work the clamshell, heavy with rocks and dirt.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • You have the front clamshell, the rear clamshell, the two doors, and then this piece over the front storage compartment.

  • An additional clamshell dredge, the Michigan, is at work in Port Jersey at Bayonne.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Yeah, I guess for me, part of it is I just don't really, I don't really know what's left to do with the clamshell form factor.

  • How could I forget you howling like a wolf with his nose caught in a clamshell?" Broken Branch slapped her leg, chuckling dryly.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Stuart stabbed the clamshell fiercely at the sod, and it bounced back up, nicking his shin.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Four methods that will automatically remove grit are screw or tubular conveyors, chain and bucket elevators, clamshell buckets, and pumps.

    Academic text (2001)

  • It turns out that a laptop—because of its relative weight and keyboard-centric clamshell design—is not always the ultimate machine when traveling or when there is a need for some quick home computing.

    Blog text (22)

  • The workers used the clamshell to scoop up the heavy mud from the bottom of the river.

  • The construction crew deployed a large clamshell to excavate the site quickly and efficiently.

Synonyms

bucket
vsclamshell
207 1.0

A round open container with a handle for carrying water or other things

is a mechanical two-halved tool used for dredging and bulk handling not hand carried
dredging bucket
vsclamshell
  • Specialized
7.8

A bucket used to lift mud and sand from the bottom of a river or harbour

uses two hinged halves to grab material instead of a single open container
scoop shovel
vsclamshell
5.2

A large deep bucket on a machine used to lift and move dirt

grabs material by closing two hinged halves instead of using an open cup

How Large

dredging bucket
  • Specialized
7.8
clamshell
  • Specialized
1 7.5
grab
  • UK
15 7.2
scoop
16 2.1
dipper
1 3.0

Surface Forms

clamshell singular
clamshells plural

Morphology

clamshell = clam + shell (semi-transparent) = clam + shell

The compound is motivated by resemblance to a clam's hinged shell (clear), but the specialized mechanical tool and its primary function (dredging/handling bulk materials) are domain-specific and not fully predictable from the components.

Etymology

Clamshell for the heavy bucket uses the same image: the tool has two hinged halves, like a clam's shell, that 'open and close' to grab material. That's why a clamshell bucket is used to pick up mud, sand, or debris.