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Glite Dictionary
knife-handle

knife-handle

9.9
A small sea clam with a long narrow curved shell like the handle of a knife
  • noun
translation icon : navaja
  • She carefully examined the knife-handle, admiring its long, narrow shape.

Examples

  • A knife-handle clam burrowed deeply into the wet sand at low tide.

  • Biologists documented the habitat range of the knife-handle along the Atlantic coast.

  • The shell collector was thrilled to find a rare knife-handle among the tidal debris.

  • The knife-handle clam is often found in shallow waters.

  • I saw a knife-handle on the beach yesterday.

  • The knife-handle of the clam was beautifully curved and glistened in the sunlight.

  • The fisherman pulled out a knife-handle from his catch, noting its unique design.

Synonyms

razor clam
vsknife-handle
1 5.4

A long narrow sea clam with a curved, sharp shell

is curved and compared to a tool's grip rather than a straight blade
jackknife clam
vsknife-handle
  • US
9.0

A sea clam with a long narrow shell that lives in sand

is the same curved thin shape but named for resembling a tool part

Surface Forms

knife-handle singular
knife-handles plural

Morphology

knife-handle = knife + handle (semi-transparent) = knife + handle

The compound is transparently built from 'knife' + 'handle' describing shape, but the specific referent (a species of clam) is a specialized naming and not predictable from the components alone.

Etymology

Knife-handle comes from the English words knife and handle, because this clam's long, narrow, curved shell looks like the 'handle' of a knife. So a knife-handle is a clam named for its thin, handle-like shell.