# clam

> English word · Noun · IPA /klæm/ · frequency rank #21,750

## Definitions
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. A type of strong pincers or forceps.
3. A kind of vise, usually of wood.
4. A dollar.
5. A Scientologist.
6. A vagina or vulva.
7. A wrong or misplaced note.
8. One who clams up; a taciturn person, one who refuses to speak.
9. mouth (Now found mostly in the expression shut one's clam)

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **CM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-cm)
- **cum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-cum)
- **CPA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-cpa)
- **CSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-csa)
- **coa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-coa)
- **CMA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-cma)
- **CRM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-crm)
- **CTA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-cta)
- **CSM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-csm)
- **CLP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-clp)
- **CLC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-clc)
- **Clo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-clo)
- **club** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-club)
- **coal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-coal)
- **crap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-crap)
- **coat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-coat)
- **clay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-clay)
- **clip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-clip)
- **clue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-clue)
- **clan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clam-vs-clan)

## Common misspellings (5)
`cclam`, `clamm`, `cllam`, `clma`, `lcam`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/clam