clamshell

[ klam-shel ]

/ ˈklæmˌʃɛl /

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noun

the shell of a clam.

an object that has two hinged parts and that opens and closes like a clamshell, as a laptop computer or a box with a cover joined on one side: This clamshell is lightweight, convenient, and as powerful as my desktop computer.

Machinery.

Also called clamshell bucket . a dredging bucket opening at the bottom, consisting of two similar pieces hinged together at the top.
a machine equipped with such a bucket.

Printing. a platen press.

adjective

of or noting an object that opens and closes like a clamshell: a clamshell phone; clamshell packaging.

QUIZ

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Which of the following words means “to make a crackling sound; crackle”?

crisp

crepitate

fuscous

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Origin of clamshell

1490–1500; earlier clam-shell;see clam¹, shell

How to use clamshell in a sentence

Their friends noticed, and asked Sabrine to talk to him to bring him out of his shell a little.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda|Ruth Michaelson|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Another said just the act of spending money on self-improvement made him determined to break out of his shell.
The Secret World of Pickup Artist Julien Blanc|Brandy Zadrozny|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If you tend to inhale your food without realizing how much you consumed, opt for nibbles like in-shell pistachio nuts.
12 Thanksgiving Weight Loss Tips That Actually Work|DailyBurn|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then came the day Mustafa, along with two others, was killed by a mortar shell.
Drawing on the Memories of Syrian Women|Masha Hamilton|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Yet five years later, the news operation has vanished and TRN is now a shell of its former self.
The Godfather of Right-Wing Radio|Caitlin Dickson|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Off flew the shell, seven miles it flew; over the Turkish Army from one sea into another.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
He conducts this ceremony with the greatest solemnity, occasionally pronouncing these incantatory words, "Plate or shell, sah?"
Physiology of The Opera|John H. Swaby (AKA "Scrici")
Fancy that enormous shell dropping suddenly out of the blue on to a ship's deck swarming with troops!
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
From pre-natal days I was destined for the railway service, as an oyster to its shell.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
If one could languish through life in the shell of a mere beauty that life would be a good deal simpler proposition than it is.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton

British Dictionary definitions for clamshell

clamshell

/ (ˈklæmˌʃɛl) /

noun

mainly US a dredging bucket that is hinged like the shell of a clam

aeronautics

an aircraft cockpit canopy hinged at the front and rear
the hinged door of a cargo aircraft
another name for eyelid (def. 2)

any of a variety of objects hinged like the shell of a clam, such as a container for takeaway food, a portable computer, etc

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