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PlainSpell

clam

/klæm/noun, verb

clam is spelled C-L-A-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, clam means “A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria), hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria)…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of clam is clams.

How many letters and syllables are in clam?

Letters4: C-L-A-M
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.7 times per million words; the 21,798th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is clam?

Clam appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce clam?

  • US /klæm/
  • [kleəm] ~ [klɛəm]
  • British /klam/

Clam has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-clam.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with clam

Also written: clem.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with clam?

10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as clam from its last stressed vowel (/æm/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: calm.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of clam

  • clams plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • clamming participle, present
  • clammed participle, past
  • clammer comparative
  • clammest superlative
  • clem

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does clam mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 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.

  2. 2

    A type of strong pincers or forceps.

  3. 3

    A kind of vise, usually of wood.

  4. 4

    USslangA dollar.

    Those sneakers cost me fifty clams!

  5. 5

    derogatoryslangA Scientologist.

  6. 6

    slangvulgarA vagina or vulva.

  7. 7

    slangA wrong or misplaced note.

  8. 8

    informalOne who clams up; a taciturn person, one who refuses to speak.

  9. 9

    A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.

  10. 10

    clamminess; moisture

  11. 11

    Alternative form of CLAM.

verb

  1. 1

    To dig for clams.

  2. 2

    To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.

  3. 3

    To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.

  4. 4

    To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.

  5. 5

    Alternative form of clem (“to starve”).

noun

as CLAM
  1. 1

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

    Use a clam to make a quick or temporary change to the inboard/outboard...The clam sits against the outer face of the collar.

adjective

  1. 1

    obsoleteClammy.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Clam in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpalourde, praire (mollusc – see also mollusc, oyster, mussel)
GermanMuschel, Venusmuschel, Klaffmuschel (mollusc – see also mollusc, oyster, mussel)
Portugueseamêijoa (mollusc – see also mollusc, oyster, mussel), mariscar (to dig for clams)
Spanishalmeja, chirla, amayuela, chocha (mollusc – see also mollusc, oyster, mussel)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does clam come from?

From Middle English clam (“pincers, vice, clamp”), from Old English clam (“bond, fetter, grip, grasp”), from Proto-West Germanic *klammjan (“press, squeeze together”). The sense “dollar” may allude to wampum. The sense "Scientologist" alludes to the Scientologist belief that human thetans (souls) previously inhabited clams.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after clam