giant clam
1
5.7
- noun
- /ˈdʒaɪənt klæm/
- US
:
almeja gigante
- While snorkeling in the clear waters, we spotted a large giant clam resting on the coral reef.
Examples
-
He saw clusters of giant clams, white-shelled, with tongues of velvety red peeking out.
Fiction book (2000) -
Just beyond the rocks was a giant clam, the ridges of the shell perfectly formed.
Fiction book (1991) -
So the Natural History Museum does have a giant clam shell.
-
JORDAN: Scientists identified a new species of giant clam that might explain the earliest modern human migrations.
Academic text (2009) -
Pomponio's recent unpublished research on the Mandok giant clam fishery suggests this was a major area of women's production, whose significance for trading has escaped the notice of past observers.
Academic text (1994) -
At the seafood market, I saw a giant clam that weighed almost 500 pounds and was breathtakingly beautiful.
-
The diver carefully approached the giant clam to take some photos, amazed by its size and vibrant colors.
Synonyms
A very large sea clam that lives on coral reefs and can weigh up to 500 pounds
A very large sea clam that lives on coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans
A family of large sea clams that live on tropical coral reefs
Antonyms
How Big
- US
1
5.7
89
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a very large tropical clam' is directly and compositionally derived from 'giant' (very large) + 'clam' (a bivalve mollusk). This simple adjective + noun pattern is regular in English and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand the MWE.
Etymology
Giant clam comes from a simple image: people saw a huge clam in coral reefs and added giant to show it was 'very large' compared with normal clams. That's why giant clam today refers to the enormous tropical clams that can live in reefs and weigh hundreds of pounds.