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View synonyms for oyster

oyster

[ oi-ster ]

noun

  1. any of several edible, marine, bivalve mollusks of the family Ostreidae, having an irregularly shaped shell, occurring on the bottom or adhering to rocks or other objects in shallow water.
  2. the oyster-shaped bit of dark meat in the front hollow of the side bone of a fowl.
  3. Slang. a closemouthed or uncommunicative person, especially one who keeps secrets well.
  4. something from which a person may extract or derive advantage:

    The world is my oyster.



verb (used without object)

  1. to dredge for or otherwise take oysters.

oyster

/ ˈɔɪstə /

noun

    1. any edible marine bivalve mollusc of the genus Ostrea, having a rough irregularly shaped shell and occurring on the sea bed, mostly in coastal waters
    2. ( as modifier )

      oyster farm

      oyster knife

  1. any of various similar and related molluscs, such as the pearl oyster and the saddle oyster ( Anomia ephippium )
  2. the oyster-shaped piece of dark meat in the hollow of the pelvic bone of a fowl
  3. something from which advantage, delight, profit, etc, may be derived

    the world is his oyster

  4. informal.
    a very uncommunicative person
“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


verb

  1. intr to dredge for, gather, or raise oysters
“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of oyster1

1325–75; Middle English oistre < Middle French < Latin ostrea < Greek óstreon; ostracize
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Word History and Origins

Origin of oyster1

C14 oistre, from Old French uistre, from Latin ostrea, from Greek ostreon; related to Greek osteon bone, ostrakon shell
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Idioms and Phrases

see world is one's oyster .
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Example Sentences

Crisp up some oysters as you listen carefully to them sizzle, then serve them over some garlicky rice.

With the solar-powered barge, workers wouldn’t have to hoist large cages of oysters from the water, for instance, Rice said.

I think it’s nice to have a little tradition, like my grandma’s oyster soup, and put that next to the crudo and say they both stand up next to each other.

Just before serving, add the oysters to the soup and raise the heat to medium.

Though it has no electricity or plumbing, the biologists use it for their annual spring shad bakes and fall oyster roasts.

If you want to be a human being, and a popular human being, then you have to stop being an oyster and come out of your shell.

What a sauce that is,” he enthused, “which dresses an oyster I suck from the mouth of the woman I love!

I added a few impossible positions, just to have a little fun, like the Swan Flying over the Oyster Shell.

A television series, Mama, was broadcast from a studio above The Oyster Bar beginning in 1949.

Other, greener options, like wetland restoration or oyster reefs, could also help slow waves before they reach the city.

From pre-natal days I was destined for the railway service, as an oyster to its shell.

But, before they can be used for this purpose, these leaves are coated with lime made from oyster shells and then folded up.

The tent on the east shore of the entrance of Oyster Harbour.

The recovery of the oyster, clam and other edible shell-fish is also a feature of the work which the Lake Company has in view.

He looks as pale as the visard of the ghost which cries so miserably at the Theatre, like an oyster-wife, "Hamlet, revenge!"

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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.

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