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shellfish

shellfish

5 2.2
Meat from sea animals with a shell, like crab or clams
  • noun
  • /ˈʃɛlˌfɪʃ/
translation icon : marisco
  • Many people enjoy shellfish like shrimp and clams in their seafood dishes.
  • fish and shellfish

I think just like shellfish is my food weakness.

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Examples

  • The variety of foods was immense, every conceivable variety, domestic and imported, of bird, fish, shellfish and meat.

  • - Are you allergic to shellfish?

  • Let's just say I had some bad shellfish and leave it at that.

  • Have you eaten shellfish again?

  • I love shellfish and I love octopus.

  • I love steamed shellfish, and their steam pots sounded promising.

    Blog text (29)
  • I'm allergic to shellfish.

  • I don't eat shellfish.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Watch for the table laden with shellfish outside—best grilled mussels.

    Blog text (26)
  • For the entree, we're featuring a complex shellfish pan roast with orzo, a touch of confit, and broth thickened with lobster shell oil.

Synonyms

seafood
vsshellfish
111 1.0

Animals from the sea that people eat, like fish and shellfish

is narrower, referring only to edible aquatic animals with hard outer coverings

Surface Forms

shellfish singular
shellfish plural

Morphology

shellfish = shell + fish (semi-transparent) = shell + fish

The compound denotes edible meat of shelled aquatic animals; components are clear but the culinary sense and non-literal 'fish' usage may not be obvious from parts alone.

Etymology

Shellfish comes from the same idea: shell + fish, and people began to use the word for the food from those animals. So on a menu shellfish means the edible meat of crabs, shrimp, oysters and similar creatures.