steamer clam

4.4

A soft clam often steamed and eaten in its shell

noun
/ˈstiːmər klæm/

: almeja de vapor

"The day's delivery of steamer clams hadn't arrived yet, so I settled for the chowder and enjoyed a great view of the harbor."

Examples

During our trip to the beach, we dug for steamer clams and later steamed them for dinner.
We enjoyed a seafood feast that included delicious steamer clams cooked with garlic and butter.
At the restaurant, I ordered a plate of grilled steamer clams served with lemon and parsley.

Synonyms

clam

vssteamer clam

24 1.0

The edible meat from a shellfish that people cook and eat

focuses on the whole animal often cooked and eaten in its shell

shellfish

vssteamer clam

5 2.2

Meat from sea animals with a shell, like crab or clams

is the narrower name for a specific shelled mollusk cooked and eaten in shell

steamer

vssteamer clam

2 7.5

A small clam cooked in its shell with steam

is the longer name for the same steamed edible clam

Mya arenaria

vssteamer clam

Specialized

9.1

An edible clam with a thin oval shell that lives on coasts and is called the soft-shell clam

is the common food name focusing on cooking and eating in the shell

soft-shell clam

vssteamer clam

3.3

A small sea animal with a thin fragile shell that people eat

is the cooking-focused name used when prepared by steaming and eaten in shell

Surface Forms

steamer clam singular

steamer clams plural

Morphology

steamer + clam

The meaning is directly compositional: 'steamer' (steamed or prepared by steaming) modifies 'clam', yielding a clam cooked by steaming. This follows common food‑naming patterns (cooking method + ingredient) found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Steamer clam is named for how people cook it: a simple pot called a steamer fills with hot 'steam' and cooks the clam until the shell opens and the meat is ready to eat. That's why the name means a soft-shell clam often 'steamed' and served in its shell.