clambake

4 8.4

A beach party where people cook clams and fish on heated stones covered with seaweed

noun
/ˈklæmˌbeɪk/

: cocina de almejas

After formal ceremonies and speeches, events were planned for pure fun: a ball game, canoe races, and a clambake.
an annual clambake
clambake at the beach
a Family Clambake

Examples

The annual clambake featured not only clams but also corn and potatoes wrapped in seaweed.
We would hold clambakes on the beach.

Academic text (2014)
Nice to see you could make it to the clambake, here.

Zombie Nightmare (1987)
What are you doing at a clambake like this?

Song of the Thin Man (1947)
This a private clambake, or can anybody join?

Some Like It Hot (1959)
The most wonderful clambake there ever was!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
What time is your clambake, Professor?

A Song Is Born (1948)
If you don't feel like cooking, there's a clambake up at the club.

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)
Miss Bowen may I escort you to Klinger's clambake tomorrow night?

Royal Wedding (1951)
The unshucked soft clams were shipped to Fulton Market, seacoast resorts in New York and New Jersey, and local clambakes to be eaten as "steamers."

Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

annual clambake

vsclambake

5.8

A yearly event where people cook and eat clams together by the shore

is not only a yearly event and can occur at any time

Surface Forms

clambake singular

clambakes plural

Morphology

clambake = clam + bake (transparent) = clam + bake

The meaning is directly derived from 'clam' + 'bake'—an occasion for baking or cooking clams—so learners who know 'clam' and 'bake' can infer the basic sense.

Etymology

The word clambake combines clam and bake, where clam is the shellfish and bake means 'to cook with heat'. So a clambake is a beach cookout where clams and other foods are cooked on hot stones and often covered with seaweed.