mollusk

or mol·lusc

[ mol-uh sk ]

/ ˈmɒl əsk /

noun

any invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, typically having a calcareous shell of one, two, or more pieces that wholly or partly enclose the soft, unsegmented body, including the chitons, snails, bivalves, squids, and octopuses.

Nearby words

mollusca, molluscoid, molluscous, molluscum, molluscum contagiosum, mollusk, mollusks, mollweide projection, molly, molly maguire, molly miller

Origin of mollusk

1775–85; < French mollusque < New Latin Mollusca; see Mollusca

Related forms

mol·lus·kan, mol·lus·can

[muh-luhs-kuh n] /məˈlʌs kən/, adjective, nounmol·lusk·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mollusc

There is just this difference, that the movement of the member in the mollusc is altogether contractile.
The Ocean World:|Louis Figuier
The arrack had been carried off, and the mollusc lay, entirely destroyed, on one side.
In the Eastern Seas|W.H.G. Kingston
Sometimes one is found in the body of the mollusc itself, but it is generally in the shell.
In the Eastern Seas|W.H.G. Kingston
We were too hungry to wait, so we sat down to our mollusc meal.
The Perils and Adventures of Harry Skipwith|W.H.G. Kingston

Was then the mollusc or the chief the root from which the god grew up?
The Origin of Man and of his Superstitions|Carveth Read

British Dictionary definitions for mollusc

mollusc

US mollusk

/ (ˈmɒləsk) /

noun

any invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, having a soft unsegmented body and often a shell, secreted by a fold of skin (the mantle). The group includes the gastropods (snails, slugs, etc), bivalves (clams, mussels, etc), and cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopuses, etc)

Derived Forms

molluscan or US molluskan (mɒˈlʌskən), adjective, nounmollusc-like or US mollusk-like, adjective

Word Origin for mollusc

C18: via New Latin from Latin molluscus, from mollis soft

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

Science definitions for mollusc

mollusk

Any of numerous invertebrate animals of the phylum Mollusca, usually living in water and often having a hard outer shell. They have a muscular foot, a well-developed circulatory and nervous system, and often complex eyes. Mollusks include gastropods (snails and shellfish), slugs, octopuses, squids, and the extinct ammonites. Mollusks appear in the fossil record in the early Cambrian Period, but it is not known from what group they evolved.