Adjacent Words

Oyster definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

OYS'TER, n. [L. ostrea; Gr. probably connected in origin with bone, and named from its hardness.]
A bivalvular testaceous animal, found adhering to rocks or other fixed substances in salt water which is shallow, or in the mouths of rivers. Oysters are deemed nourishing and delicious.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: marine mollusks having a rough irregular shell; found on the sea bed mostly in coastal waters
2: edible body of any of numerous oysters [syn: huitre, oyster]
3: a small muscle on each side of the back of a fowl v
1: gather oysters, dig oysters

Merriam Webster's

noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English oistre, from Anglo-French, from Latin ostrea, from Greek ostreon; akin to Greek ostrakon shell, osteon bone — more at osseous Date: 13th century 1. a. any of various marine bivalve mollusks (family Ostreidae) that have a rough irregular shell closed by a single adductor muscle and include commercially important shellfish b. any of various mollusks resembling or related to the oysters 2. something that is or can be readily made to serve one's personal ends <the world was her oyster> 3. a small mass of muscle contained in a concavity of the pelvic bone on each side of the back of a fowl 4. an extremely taciturn person 5. a grayish-white color

Britannica Concise

Any bivalve of two families, Ostreidae (true oysters) or Aviculidae (pearl oysters), found in temperate and warm coastal waters worldwide. Both valves (halves) have a rough, often dirty-gray outer surface and a smooth white lining (nacre). The lower valve, which affixes to a surface, is flattish. The smaller upper valve is convex and has rougher edges. The oyster filters its food, minute organic particles, from the water. Oysters are cultivated as a food, which is regarded as a delicacy. Pearls are the accumulation of nacre around a piece of foreign matter.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 any of various bivalve molluscs of the family Ostreidae or Aviculidae, esp. an edible kind, Ostrea edulus, of European waters. 2 an oyster-shaped morsel of meat in a fowl's back. 3 something regarded as containing all that one desires (the world is my oyster). 4 (in full oyster-white) a white colour with a grey tinge. Phrases and idioms: oyster-bank (or -bed) a part of the sea-bottom where oysters breed or are bred. oyster-catcher any usu. coastal wading bird of the genus Haematopus, with a strong orange-coloured bill, feeding on shellfish. oyster-farm an area of the seabed used for breeding oysters. oyster-plant 1 = SALSIFY. 2 a blue-flowered plant, Mertensia maritima, growing on beaches. Etymology: ME & OF oistre f. L ostrea, ostreum f. Gk ostreon

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Oyster Oys"ter, n. [OF. oistre, F. hu[^i]tre, L. ostrea, ostreum, Gr. 'o`streon; prob. akin to 'ostre`on bone, the oyster being so named from its shell. Cf. Osseous, Ostracize.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any marine bivalve mollusk of the genus Ostrea. They are usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers. The common European oyster (Ostrea edulis), and the American oyster (Ostrea Virginiana), are the most important species. 2. A name popularly given to the delicate morsel contained in a small cavity of the bone on each side of the lower part of the back of a fowl. Fresh-water oyster (Zo["o]l.), any species of the genus Etheria, and allied genera, found in rivers of Africa and South America. They are irregular in form, and attach themselves to rocks like oysters, but they have a pearly interior, and are allied to the fresh-water mussels. Oyster bed, a breeding place for oysters; a place in a tidal river or other water on or near the seashore, where oysters are deposited to grow and fatten for market. See 1st Scalp, n. Oyster catcher (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of wading birds of the genus H[ae]matopus, which frequent seashores and feed upon shellfish. The European species (H. ostralegus), the common American species (H. palliatus), and the California, or black, oyster catcher (H. Bachmani) are the best known. Oyster crab (Zo["o]l.) a small crab (Pinnotheres ostreum) which lives as a commensal in the gill cavity of the oyster. Oyster dredge, a rake or small dragnet of bringing up oyster from the bottom of the sea. Oyster fish. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The tautog. (b) The toadfish. Oyster plant. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus Tragopogon (T. porrifolius), the root of which, when cooked, somewhat resembles the oyster in taste; salsify; -- called also vegetable oyster. (b) A plant found on the seacoast of Northern Europe, America and Asia (Mertensia maritima), the fresh leaves of which have a strong flavor of oysters. Oyster plover. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Oyster catcher, above. Oyster shell (Zo["o]l.), the shell of an oyster. Oyster wench, Oyster wife, Oyster women, a women who deals in oysters. Pearl oyster. (Zo["o]l.) See under Pearl. Thorny oyster (Zo["o]l.), any spiny marine shell of the genus Spondylus.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(oysters) 1. An oyster is a large flat shellfish. Some oysters can be eaten and others produce valuable objects called pearls. N-COUNT 2. If you say that the world is someone's oyster, you mean that they can do anything or go anywhere that they want to. You're young, you've got a lot of opportunity. The world is your oyster. PHRASE: V inflects

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A gob of thick phlegm, spit by a consumptive man; in law Latin, UNUM VIRIDUM GOBBUM

Moby Thesaurus

Dungeness crab, Japanese crab, blue point, breast, chicken foot, clam, coquillage, crab, crawdad, crawfish, crayfish, dark meat, drumstick, giblets, langouste, leg, limpet, littleneck clam, lobster, long suit, medium, metier, mussel, neck, periwinkle, prawn, quahog, scallop, shellfish, shrimp, snail, soft-shell crab, steamer, thigh, turkey foot, whelk, white meat, wing, wishbone