round clam
- noun
- /raʊnd klæm/
- US
:
almeja redonda
- A hearty bowl of chowder usually features tender pieces of round clam.
Examples
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Fishermen along the Atlantic coast often harvest round clams for commercial use.
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I bought some fresh round clams from the market.
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The chef added chopped round clam to the seafood stew for extra flavor.
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The chef prepared a delicious dish with round clams.
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Many people enjoy the rich taste of round clam in their clam chowder.
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In coastal areas, restaurants often serve round clams as a delicacy.
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He learned how to cook round clam with garlic and butter for a savory dish.
Synonyms
24
1.0
The edible meat from a shellfish that people cook and eat
1
9.9
A large round clam with a hard shell that people eat on the east coast of North America
A large edible clam with a hard shell that was used as money by some Native American tribes
A large edible American clam with a heavy rounded shell often used in chowder
A North American clam with a thick hard shell that is eaten as food
A large edible clam from the Atlantic coast whose shell was once used as money by Native Americans
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a large edible clam with a rounded shell' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'round' (having a circular or rounded form) with 'clam' (a bivalve), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the referent. This is a simple adjective+noun composition common across languages; the cultural note about historical use as money does not make the core meaning idiomatic or unpredictable.
Etymology
Round clam comes from a simple image: a large clam with a hard, very round shell that people ate. One popular story says some Native American people used these thick shells like small 'money', so the name stuck and today round clam means 'a large edible American clam with a hard, rounded shell'.