oyster

/ˈɔɪstər/

/ˈɔɪstə/

Other forms: oysters; oystering

An oyster is an animal that lives in the sea, a rough-shelled mollusk. To find a pearl inside an oyster, you first have to find a "pearl oyster" — a rare cousin of the oysters people commonly eat.

You can usually tell you've found an oyster on the beach because its shell is bumpy and irregular, unlike the smoother clams or mussels you might see. There are few kinds of oysters that are edible (both cooked and raw), and many others that aren't. You may have heard the expression "the word ls your oyster," which is one of Shakespeare's many linguistic inventions; he means the world is yours to seize, open, and use as you wish.

Definitions of oyster

1. noun

   marine mollusks having a rough irregular shell; found on the sea bed mostly in coastal waters
   types:

   seed oyster

   a young oyster especially of a size for transplantation

   blue point, bluepoint

   small edible oyster typically from the southern shore of Long Island

   Japanese oyster, Ostrea gigas

   a large oyster native to Japan and introduced along the Pacific coast of the United States; a candidate for introduction in Chesapeake Bay

   Virginia oyster

   common edible oyster of Atlantic coast of North America

   Pinctada margaritifera, pearl oyster

   tropical marine bivalve found chiefly off eastern Asia and Pacific coast of North America and Central America; a major source of pearls

   Anomia ephippium, saddle oyster

   thin-shelled bivalve having the right valve deeply notched

   Placuna placenta, capiz, window oyster, windowpane oyster

   marine bivalve common in Philippine coastal waters characterized by a large thin flat translucent shell

   type of:

   bivalve, lamellibranch, pelecypod

   marine or freshwater mollusk having a soft body with platelike gills enclosed within two shells hinged together
2. noun

   edible body of any of numerous oysters
   synonyms: huitre

   types:

   oysters Rockefeller

   oysters spread with butter and spinach and seasonings and baked on the half shell

   blue point, bluepoint

   oysters originally from Long Island Sound but now from anywhere along the northeastern seacoast; usually eaten raw

   type of:

   shellfish

   meat of edible aquatic invertebrate with a shell (especially a mollusk or crustacean)
3. verb

   gather oysters, dig oysters
   type of:

   collect, garner, gather, pull together

   assemble or get together
4. noun

   a small muscle on each side of the back of a fowl
   type of:

   helping, portion, serving

   an individual quantity of food or drink taken as part of a meal