lamp shell

American

Or lampshell

noun

a mollusklike marine animal; brachiopod.

lamp shell British

noun

another name for a brachiopod

"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

Etymology

Origin of lamp shell

First recorded in 1850–55; so called because its shape was thought to resemble that of an ancient Roman oil lamp

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023