mollusc

US mollusk

/ (ˈmɒləsk) /

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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)

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Derived forms of mollusc

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

Words nearby mollusc

Mollier diagram, mollified, mollify, mollisol, Molloy Deep, mollusc, Mollusca, molluscoid, molluscum, mollusk, mollusks

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

How to use mollusc in a sentence

They were as two horns which the sluggish heath had put forth from its crown, like a mollusc, and had now again drawn in.
Return of the Native|Thomas Hardy
Some of these holes are the empty burrows of a boring mollusc, while others still contain the living animal in situ.
The Sea Shore|William S. Furneaux
The mollusc Cyrena fluminalis, indicative of a sub-tropical climate, has been found in these strata.
Prehistoric Man|W. L. H. Duckworth
Radula, rad′ū-la, n. the tongue or lingual ribbon of a mollusc.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various

The bent form of the embryonic heart recalls the heart of spiders; it lies at first free, as in the mollusc Anomia.
Form and Function|E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell