mussel
Americannoun
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mussels
plural
noun
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any of various marine bivalves of the genus Mytilus and related genera, esp M. edulis ( edible mussel ), having a dark slightly elongated shell and living attached to rocks, etc,
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any of various freshwater bivalves of the genera Anodonta, Unio, etc, attached to rocks, sand, etc having a flattened oval shell (a source of mother-of-pearl). The zebra mussel , Dreissena polymorpha, can be a serious nuisance in water mains
Usage
Where does mussel come from? Take a quick gander at your muscles. Do you think they look anything like ... mice? And do you think mice resemble mussels, as in the edible mollusk? This may sound odd to you, but to the ancient Romans, it would have made perfect sense. This is because both the words muscle and mussel come from musculus, which literally means "little mouse" (mus means and is related to "mouse"). As far as we can tell, the ancient Romans thought that the movement of a muscle, especially when flexing, looked like a mouse was running under your skin. If you don’t know how muscles work, it sounds as reasonable a guess as any. Now to the mollusk: the ancient Romans apparently also thought that mussels, the shellfish, looked like little mice. The word mussels also comes from that same Latin noun as muscle: musculus. The roots of these other words may get a rise—of laughter or surprise—out of you. Run on over to our roundup of them at "Weird Word Origins That Will Make Your Family Laugh."
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mussel
before 1000; Middle English, Old English muscle < Vulgar Latin *mūscula, variant of Latin mūsculus little mouse, sea mussel. See muscle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The "Walcot Wiggle" is taking place within the headwaters of the River Clun - parts of which support internationally important species like the freshwater pearl mussel.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Supriyanto, 32, is a green mussel trader and once bought from local fishermen who harvested the shellfish offshore.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
On Wednesday, they served a mussel dish with garlic confit and serrano chili developed by his breakfast sous chef.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 13, 2025
The amphipod was discovered at a depth of 2,602 meters in a mussel bed within the Galápagos Rift hydrothermal vent fields.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2025
She takes two mussel shells and grates away the hair on the right side of my head down to the scalp.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Conservationists say this and other extraordinary deep-sea snails, limpets, mussels and clams could be threatened by plans to mine valuable minerals from the deep seabed.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Like the mussels, it requires “crystal-clear, rock-hard, ice-cold water,” said Robert T. Dillon, a former biology professor who runs the Freshwater Gastropods of North America Project, which inventories snail species.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2026
Hutchings uses scallops, large shrimp and fish fillets, but other options like oysters, lobster tails, crabs, mussels and clams are perfectly acceptable.
From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2026
They say the mussels have disappeared because of the plant's wastewater.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
Dicey sent James and Maybeth on to gather mussels and clams and firewood.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
