shellfish
Americannoun
-
shellfish,
plural
-
shellfishes
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of shellfish
before 900; Middle English; Old English scilfisc. See shell, fish
Explanation
Use shellfish to refer to crustaceans and mollusks, especially the ones people commonly eat. Crabs, mussels, and shrimp are all shellfish. If you serve your guests a shellfish stew, they'll know it's full of creatures that originally had shells or hard exoskeletons. In most kitchens and restaurants, the term includes marine animals such as lobsters and oysters, and freshwater species like crayfish too. Fishery regulators only use shellfish for mollusks, including clams and mussels. The funny thing is that shellfish aren't fish at all — they're more closely related to arachnids and insects!
Vocabulary lists containing shellfish
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for September 30–October 6, 2023
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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:
“Duryea’s continues to be a beloved Montauk institution where families and friends come for fresh fish, shellfish, and perfect sunsets over Fort Pond Bay, as they have for decades,” a spokesman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
When people eat these contaminated shellfish or fish, they can get Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning, which can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, permanent short-term memory loss, coma or death.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Long periods of sea heat can trigger mass die-offs among some seagrasses, shellfish and other species, as well as encouraging greater numbers of warm-water creatures including octopus.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
The heat has warmed the lagoons, boosting the growth of algae that cover the shellfish.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
“What’s that!” said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Here sea creatures come to live, fishes swim hungrily to and fro, and shellfishes die in the mud which, by and by, is to become firm rock with stony animal remains embedded in it.
From Eighth Reader by James Baldwin
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.
