shellfish
shellfish Lexical Profile
shellfish Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The edible meat of shelled mollusks or crustaceans eaten as seafood.
"Because of a severe food allergy, she always asks the waiter whether the broth contains any shellfish."
An aquatic shelled mollusk (such as an oyster, clam, or mussel) or crustacean (such as a crab, lobster, or shrimp), inhabiting marine or freshwater environments.
"Marine biologists monitored how rising ocean acidity affected the ability of local shellfish to build their protective shells."
Word Nuance & Usage
The plural form is typically unchanged as 'shellfish' when referring to a quantity or the food group collectively, though 'shellfishes' is occasionally used in biological contexts to refer to multiple distinct species.
• Rhymes for shellfish
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'scylfisc', a compound of 'scyll' (shell) and 'fisc' (fish), reflecting the historical practice of classifying almost all aquatic creatures under the general term 'fish'.