oyster

Meaning

Noun

1. Any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers.
2. The delicate oyster-shaped morsel of dark meat contained in a small cavity of the bone on each side of the lower part of the back of a fowl.
3. A pale beige color tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.
4. (colloquial) A person who keeps secrets.
5. (figuratively) Something at one's disposal.
6. (UK, slang) A shoplifter.
7. (UK, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, slang) Ellipsis of Oyster card.

Adj

Of a pale beige colour tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.

Verb

To fish for oysters.

Synonyms

mussel

abalone

cockle

huitre

shell

🐚

fish

🐟

oyster shell

shellfish

clam

own up

oxygen

pearl

pimple

privacy

quiescence

quiet

quietness

quietude

scallop

stillness

ear shell

ostracean

quiescency

meat

🥩

bivalve mollusc

freshwater snail

Ostrea

noislessness

tree mushroom

chicken oyster

barnacle

beams

calmness

cave

ease

mollusk

nacre

own

Translations

huître

🦪

Auster

🦪

ostrica

🦪

ostra

🦪

ostra

🦪

oester

🦪

στρείδι

ostra

🦪

ostrea

🦪

istiridye

huitre

محار

🦪

Pfaffenschnittchen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɔɪstə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: oystre

In summary

From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which is from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon). Doublet of ostro (“a purple dye”).

Sentences

The diver forced open the oyster , revealing a shimmering pearl .