mollusk

or mol·lusc

[ mol-uh sk ]
/ ˈmɒl əsk /

noun

any invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, typically having a calcareous shell of one, two, or more pieces that wholly or partly enclose the soft, unsegmented body, including the chitons, snails, bivalves, squids, and octopuses.

Origin of mollusk

1775–85; < French mollusque < New Latin Mollusca; see Mollusca

OTHER WORDS FROM mollusk

mol·lus·kan, mol·lus·can [muh-luhs-kuh n] /məˈlʌs kən/, adjective, noun mol·lusk·like, adjective

Words nearby mollusk

mollusca, molluscoid, molluscous, molluscum, molluscum contagiosum, mollusk, mollusks, mollweide projection, molly, molly maguire, molly miller

Example sentences from the Web for mollusc

British Dictionary definitions for mollusc

mollusc

US mollusk

/ (ˈmɒləsk) /

noun

any invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, having a soft unsegmented body and often a shell, secreted by a fold of skin (the mantle). The group includes the gastropods (snails, slugs, etc), bivalves (clams, mussels, etc), and cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopuses, etc)

Derived forms of mollusc

molluscan or US molluskan (mɒˈlʌskən), adjective, noun mollusc-like or US mollusk-like, adjective

Word Origin for mollusc

C18: via New Latin from Latin molluscus, from mollis soft

Scientific definitions for mollusc

mollusk

Any of numerous invertebrate animals of the phylum Mollusca, usually living in water and often having a hard outer shell. They have a muscular foot, a well-developed circulatory and nervous system, and often complex eyes. Mollusks include gastropods (snails and shellfish), slugs, octopuses, squids, and the extinct ammonites. Mollusks appear in the fossil record in the early Cambrian Period, but it is not known from what group they evolved.