lamp shell
- noun
- Specialized
:
concha de lámpara
- The lamp shell is often mistaken for a clam due to its bivalve shell.
Examples
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Fossils of the lamp shell provide insight into ancient marine environments.
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Scientists discovered a rare species of lamp shell on the ocean floor.
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A lamp shell can be found in many marine environments.
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The lamp shells are fascinating creatures to study.
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Fossils of the lamp shell provide insight into ancient marine environments.
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Scientists discovered a rare species of lamp shell on the ocean floor.
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The lamp shell is often mistaken for a clam due to its bivalve shell.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A sea animal with two shells and a pair of arms with tentacles for catching food
A sea animal with two shells and arms with tentacles that catch food
Surface Forms
Morphology
lamp + shell
Although 'shell' is transparent, 'lamp' (normally a light source) does not cue the biological sense; the specific meaning 'a brachiopod with a bivalve shell and feeding arms' is a technical taxonomic label not predictable from the constituents. As a specialized scientific term with no clear compositional logic for learners, it would be opaque to a B1 learner who only knows the parts.
Etymology
Lamp shell comes from the way the animal's two-part shell looks like an old oil lamp; early scientists saw fossils that looked like small lamps, so the name stuck and refers to the shell shape rather than to 'light'.