clam

noun11

1. •
   A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria), hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria), sea clams or hen clams (Spisula solidissima), and other species, possibly originally applied to clams of species Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.

   • Long as I have my clams I don't give a damn about revolution / Long as I have my rice I don't have to think twice about a solution — 1970
2. •
   [in the plural] (US, slang) A dollar.

   • Those sneakers cost me fifty clams!
3. •
   (informal) One who clams up; a taciturn person, one who refuses to speak.
4. •
   A kind of vise, usually of wood.
5. •
   [in the plural] (historical) A type of strong pincers or forceps.
6. •
   (slang, old-fashioned) mouth (Now found mostly in the expression shut one's clam)

   • Why, he hasn't opened his clam since that morning in your room. I expected he would hold forth on every and all occasions. — 1900
7. •
   (slang, vulgar) A vagina or vulva.
8. •
   (slang, offensive) A Scientologist.

   • So the clams have John Travolta, Tom Cruise, et al in their hot li'l ol'P-R hands […] — 1998
9. •
   (slang) A wrong or misplaced note.
10. •
    A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.

    • By the bells standing too long in leading compass, the rest are thrown and jumbled together; whereby claps and clams so unpleasing to the hearers are occasion'd. — 1702
11. •
    clamminess; moisture

    • The clam of death. — 1837

verb4

1. •
   To dig for clams.
2. •
   To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.

   • A chilling sweat , a damp of jealousy, Hangs on my brows, and clams upon my limbs — 1690
3. •
   To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.

   • A whole Swarm of Wasps got into a Hony-pot, and there they Cloy'd and Clam'd themselves till there was no getting Out again. — 1692
4. •
   To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.

adjective1

1. •
   (no longer used) Clammy.

   • Ice is said to be clam, when beginning to melt with the sun or otherwise, and not easy to be slid upon. — 1808

noun1

1. •
   Acronym of Clip-on Load Adjusting Mechanism, a device that can be fitted onto an oar to adjust the set.

   • The CLAM can be 'clipped on' by the rower with little difficulty, so the load can be changed between alternating headwind–tailwind pieces. — 1995