univalve

American  

[yoo-nuh-valv] / ˈyu nəˌvælv /

adjective

1. having one valve.

2. (of a shell) composed of a single valve or piece.

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noun

1. a univalve mollusk or its shell.

univalve British  

/ ˈjuːnɪˌvælv /

adjective

1. relating to, designating, or possessing a mollusc shell that consists of a single piece (valve)

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noun

1. a gastropod mollusc or its shell

univalve Scientific  

/ yo̅o̅′nĭ-vălv′ /

1. A gastropod, especially one with a single shell, such as a snail, cone, whelk, abalone, or limpet. Univalves belong to the subclass Prosobranchia. Their shells are usually spiral and can hold the whole animal inside.

2. Compare bivalve

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Etymology

Origin of univalve

First recorded in 1655–65; uni- + valve

Example Sentences

Patella, pa-tel′la, n. a little dish or vase: the knee-pan: a genus of gasteropodous univalve molluscs: the limpet.—adjs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

And when the chambered shells, whose occupants were carnivorous, disappeared with the secondary period, numerous univalve mollusks were created to feed on other animals; although previously that family were herbivorous.

From The Religion of Geology and Its Connected Sciences by Hitchcock, Edward

The second locality is near the convent of Bikeurby, where a stratum occurs containing numerous univalve shells of the genus Nerinœa, which being harder than the rock containing them, stand up on its weathered surface.

From The Thistle and the Cedar of Lebanon by Risk Allah, Habeeb

But the limpet is univalve, and has a smooth shell; and the mussel has a united shell.

From The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athen?us by Athen?us

A shell pin made from the columella of a large univalve.

From Illustrated Catalogue of a Portion of the Collections Made During the Field Season of 1881 Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884, pages 427-510 by Holmes, William Henry