quahog

or qua·haug

[kwaw-hawg, -hog, kwoh-, koh-, kwuh-hawg, -hog]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quahog ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an edible clam, Venus (Mercenaria) mercenaria, inhabiting waters along the Atlantic coast, having a relatively thick shell.

RELATED WORDS

mollusk, littleneck, cherrystone

Nearby words

Origin of quahog

1745–55, Americanism; < Narragansett (E spelling) poquaûhock

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

Examples from the Web for quahog

Quahog is a rich world full of despicable, immoral, and implausibly selfish characters.
‘Family Guy’ Killed Off Brian Last Night. It Was the Right Move.|Kevin Fallon|November 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The former (Venus mercenaria) was called by the Indians "quahog," and is still so called in the Eastern states.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
The 'neck' is a foot, and it's little because the quahog doesn't burrow deep.
The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries|Francis Rolt-Wheeler
The quahog is a thick-shelled, roundish mollusk with a distinctly heart-shaped outline when looked at endwise.
Zoology: The Science of Animal Life|Ernest Ingersoll

D'you know what answer the little boy got that asked the quahog the time o' day?
Sheila of Big Wreck Cove|James A. Cooper
It is to this family that the quahog or hard clam of our markets belongs.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood

British Dictionary definitions for quahog

quahog

noun

an edible clam, Venus (or Mercenaria) mercenaria, native to the Atlantic coast of North America, having a large heavy rounded shellAlso called: hard-shell clam, hard-shell, round clam Compare soft-shell clam

Word Origin for quahog

C18: from Narraganset, short for poquauhock, from pohkeni dark + hogki shell

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

Word Origin and History for quahog

quahog

1753 (quogue; Roger Williams had it as poquauhock, 1643), from an Algonquian language, perhaps Narragansett poquauhock or Pequot p'quaghhaug "hard clam."