freshwater clam
1
3.3
- noun
- /ˈfrɛʃˌwɔːtər klæm/
- US
:
almeja de agua dulce
- After exploring the lake, they discovered several freshwater clams nestled in the sand.
Examples
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Hundreds of tiny freshwater clams were found in the riverbank, thriving in the clean water.
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Three of them were small freshwater fish, one was a freshwater clam, and two were very small birds.
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The fisherman collected a basket filled with freshwater clams from the muddy riverbed.
Synonyms
89
1.0
A sea animal with two hard shells that lives buried in sand near the shore
11
5.6
A soft-bodied animal like a snail or clam that often has a shell
2
6.3
A water animal with a soft body inside two hinged shells, like a clam or oyster
A shell animal with two shells that lives in rivers and lakes
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a clam that lives in non-salty water' is directly and compositionally derived from 'freshwater' (non-salty water) + 'clam' (a bivalve), following a straightforward noun+noun compounding pattern. This is a common, cross-linguistically transparent construction, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Freshwater clam is a very literal name: freshwater means water that is 'not salty' and clam is a shell animal, so the phrase simply names a clam that lives in rivers or lakes rather than the sea.