abalone

[ab-uh-loh-nee]

See more synonyms for abalone on Thesaurus.com

noun

a large mollusk of the genus Haliotis, having a bowllike shell bearing a row of respiratory holes, the flesh of which is used for food and the shell for ornament and as a source of mother-of-pearl.

Origin of abalone

1840–50, Americanism; taken as singular of California Spanish abulones, plural of abulón, aulón < a word in Rumsen, a Costanoan language formerly spoken at Monterey, California

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for abalone

mollusk, ear, ormer

Examples from the Web for abalone

Contemporary Examples of abalone

In California, tourists have been pitted against career foragers, causing problems for wild mushrooms and abalone.
The Foraging Wars: Extreme Eating Hits California
Debra A. Klein
January 31, 2014

Historical Examples of abalone

The body of the abalone is a mass of muscle that has tremendous strength.
Bert Wilson's Twin Cylinder Racer
J. W. Duffield
The Haliotis or abalone was also used and was called uhl-lo.
Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 2 [July 1902]
Various
I'll leave them here for you—and there's plenty of turtle and abalone to be had for the catching.
Moran of the Lady Letty
Frank Norris
But the abalone—as a Christian comestible he is a stranger to me and the tooth o' me.
The Letters of Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Bierce
Not another one of us was ever caught in the closing shell of an abalone.
Before Adam
Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for abalone

abalone

noun

any of various edible marine gastropod molluscs of the genus Haliotis, having an ear-shaped shell that is perforated with a row of respiratory holes. The shells are used for ornament or decorationAlso called: ear shell See also ormer

Word Origin for abalone

C19: from American Spanish abulón; origin unknown

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for abalone

type of marine shell, 1850, American English, from Spanish abulon from Costanoan (a California coastal Indian language family) aluan "red abalone."