clam

1
[ klam ]
/ klæm /

noun

any of various bivalve mollusks, especially certain edible species. Compare quahog, soft-shell clam.
Informal. a secretive or silent person.
Slang. a dollar or the sum of a dollar: I only made 60 clams a week.

verb (used without object), clammed, clam·ming.

to gather or dig clams.

Verb Phrases

clam up, Slang. to refuse to talk or reply; refrain from talking or divulging information: The teacher asked who had thrown the eraser, but the class clammed up.

Origin of clam

1
1585–95; short for clam-shell, i.e., bivalve with a shell that clamps. See clam2, shell

OTHER WORDS FROM clam

clam·like, adjective clam·mer, noun

British Dictionary definitions for clam up (1 of 3)

clam up

verb

(intr, adverb) informal to keep or become silent or withhold information

British Dictionary definitions for clam up (2 of 3)

clam 1
/ (klæm) /

noun

any of various burrowing bivalve molluscs of the genera Mya, Venus, etc. Many species, such as the quahog and soft-shell clam, are edible and Tridacna gigas is the largest known bivalve, nearly 1.5 metres long
the edible flesh of such a mollusc
informal a reticent person

verb clams, clamming or clammed

(intr) mainly US to gather clams
See also clam up

Word Origin for clam

C16: from earlier clamshell, that is, shell that clamps; related to Old English clamm fetter, Old High German klamma constriction; see clamp 1

British Dictionary definitions for clam up (3 of 3)

clam 2
/ (klæm) /

verb clams, clamming or clammed

a variant of clem

Idioms and Phrases with clam up (1 of 2)

clam up

Refuse to talk or respond, as in Whenever she asks her teenager about his activities, he clams up. This term alludes to the tightly closed valves of a live clam. [Slang; early 1900s]

Idioms and Phrases with clam up (2 of 2)

clam