mollusc

British  

/ mɒˈlʌskən, ˈmɒləsk /

noun

1. 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)

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Other Word Forms

• mollusc-like adjective
• molluscan adjective

Etymology

Origin of mollusc

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

Example Sentences

Named the German hairy snail because of tiny hairs that cover its shell and because it is believed to originally come from the continent, the rare species is one of the UK's most endangered molluscs.

From BBC

While on holiday she was fascinated by their foraging behaviour as they moved gracefully through the shallow, saline wetlands, filter-feeding for molluscs and crustaceans.

From BBC

Scientists photographed and filmed what looked like fields of marine life - dominated by various different types of tube worm and mollusc.

From BBC

She said the rocks were about 140 to 180 million years old and contained ammonites – spiral-shelled molluscs that lived in the oceans while dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

From BBC

The mollusc was discovered on the 100-year anniversary of it first being identified and named.

From BBC