scallop
Americannoun
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scallops
plural
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any of the bivalve mollusks of the genus Argopecten (Pecten ) and related genera that swim by rapidly clapping the fluted shell valves together.
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the adductor muscle of certain species of such mollusks, used as food.
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one of the shells of such a mollusk, usually having radial ribs and a wavy outer edge.
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a scallop shell or a dish in which food, especially seafood, is baked and served.
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Cooking. a thin slice of meat, usually further flattened by pounding with a mallet or other implement.
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any of a series of curved projections cut along the edge, as of a fabric.
verb (used with object)
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scallops,
present (3rd person singular)
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scalloped,
past participle, past
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scalloping
present participle
-
to finish (an edge) with scallops.
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Cooking. to escallop.
verb (used without object)
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scallops,
present (3rd person singular)
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scalloped,
past participle, past
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scalloping
present participle
noun
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any of various marine bivalves of the family Pectinidae, having a fluted fan-shaped shell: includes free-swimming species (genus Pecten ) and species attached to a substratum (genus Chlamys ) See also pecten
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the edible adductor muscle of certain of these molluscs
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either of the shell valves of any of these molluscs
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a scallop shell or similarly shaped dish, in which fish, esp shellfish, is cooked and served
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one of a series of curves along an edge, esp an edge of cloth
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the shape of a scallop shell used as the badge of a pilgrim, esp in the Middle Ages
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a potato cake fried in batter
verb
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(tr) to decorate (an edge) with scallops
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to bake (food) in a scallop shell or similar dish
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(intr) to collect scallops
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scallopsimple
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scallopssimple
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have scallopedperfect
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has scallopedperfect
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am scallopingprogressive
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are scallopingprogressive
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is scallopingprogressive
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have been scallopingperfect progressive
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has been scallopingperfect progressive
Past
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scallopedsimple
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had scallopedperfect
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was scallopingprogressive
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were scallopingprogressive
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had been scallopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scallop
1350–1400; Middle English scalop, aphetic variant of escal(l)op escallop; sense “thin slice of meat” probably by association with French escalope escalope
Explanation
A scallop is a kind of saltwater shellfish that swims by opening and closing its shell. Cooked scallops are a popular seafood as well. The word scallop can actually refer to a few types of mollusks, including some clams and the thorny oyster. In the ocean, scallops are known for swimming extremely fast by moving their valves, or each half of the shell they live inside. You may also encounter scallops on the menu of a seafood restaurant. The curved edge of a scallop shell led to another meaning of scallop, "rounded ornamental edging," like the scallops on a skirt's hem or woodwork.
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:
Lady 56 was buried with a scallop shell, an unusual object to find in a medieval Scandinavian grave.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026
BBC Scotland's Disclosure's programme, Slavery At Sea, identified 35 men who worked on the fleet of scallop trawlers and went on to be recognised by the UK Home Office as victims of modern slavery.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
Meanwhile, the scallop and soup examples I mentioned above came, respectively, from Ed Yong’s “An Immense World,” about animal perception, and Sam Kean’s “The Disappearing Spoon”—of which I have completed 87% so far.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Diced and seasoned tomato—red, sweet, alive—stacked under finely chopped, lightly cured and anointed scallop and a drizzle of creamy soy dressing.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2025
A gold ingot in the tines of a scallop rake.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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
From there, the menu moves to the restaurant’s specialties: hand-cut steaks aged in-house, sautéed scallops and pan-fried walleye.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2026
Go to the Marché des Enfants Rouges in the 3rd arrondissement in Paris for fresh oysters and a cheese plate, or to the Marché des Carmes in Toulouse for some lamb chops and fried scallops.
From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 2026
A tender hunk of goat may follow, gleaming over a sauce that gets its oceanic depth from dried scallops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
He had just brought some calico scallops ashore when we heard the rifle shot.
From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor
Smaller hammerhead species such as the scalloped bonnethead, scoophead, and Pacific bonnethead have been devastated by overfishing, leaving so few that researchers struggle to find or study them.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 8, 2025
From an office perched on the scalloped edge of the continent, Victoria Bradley jokes that she has the most beautiful doctor's practice in Australia.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2025
They scalloped when we visited my mother’s parents in Mexico Beach, FL.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2024
Three crisp, sharp triangles in flat primary colors are edged in scalloped yellow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2024
Serena Joy, it would say on the bottle, with a woman’s head in cut-paper silhouette on a pink oval background with scalloped gold edges.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
For the adventurous and industrious, from October to March, the town sells $50-a-week shellfish permits for recreational scalloping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Brown was working with a vocabulary that she called “delicate aberrations,” and small-scale gestures repeatedly catch the eye, like palms carving the air in a scalloping motion, or a forearm folding into a rib.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2022
When my kids were younger, I always took them scalloping.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2021
In New Bedford, Massachusetts, where the William Lee docks, scalloping season begins in April.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 8, 2021
Each had knotted, carefully combed tassels, fleur-de-lis borders, ornate medallion designs, and minute scalloping amid a motif of connected eight-spoked wheels, all in rust and fire orange.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
