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Glite Dictionary
pearl oyster

pearl oyster

5.6
A shellfish that lives in the sea and makes pearls
  • noun
  • /pɜrl ˈaɪstər/
translation icon : ostra perla
  • Divers often dive to great depths to collect pearl oysters for their valuable pearls.

Examples

  • They go straight down to a depth of several fathoms with a weight in one hand and a net in the other to gather pearl oysters.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The coastal waters around Japan are famous for their abundant pearl oysters, which are harvested yearly.

  • Farmers cultivate pearl oysters in controlled environments to increase pearl production.

Synonyms

Pinctada margaritifera
vspearl oyster
  • Specialized
9.9

A large sea oyster that makes black pearls

is a general name for similar bivalves rather than one specific species
Pinctada
vspearl oyster
  • Specialized
9.9

A sea oyster that makes pearls inside its shell

is the commercial tropical bivalve species used for pearl production rather than the genus

Surface Forms

pearl oyster singular
pearl oysters plural

Morphology

pearl + oyster

The noun–noun compound is directly compositional: a 'pearl oyster' is an oyster associated with pearls, so a learner who knows 'pearl' and 'oyster' can infer it is an oyster that produces or yields pearls. This follows a regular and cross-linguistically common modifier + noun pattern, making the meaning predictable for a B1 learner.

Etymology

The compound noun pearl oyster is the name for the kind of oyster that makes pearls inside its shell. People collect these pearl oysters to find the pearl, so the name points to the animal's job of 'making pearls'.