QUAHOG

quahog, quahaug, hard-shell clam, hard clam, round clam, Venus mercenaria, Mercenaria mercenaria

(noun) an edible American clam; the heavy shells were used as money by some American Indians

quahaug, quahog, hard-shell clam, round clam

(noun) Atlantic coast round clams with hard shells; large clams usually used for chowders or other clam dishes

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

quahog (plural quahogs)

An edible clam with a hard shell found along the Atlantic Coast of North America, from species Mercenaria mercenaria, formerly Venus mercenaria.

The largest size of such an edible clam, generally considered only fit for use in chowders and other clam dishes.

A similar edible clam found along coasts around the North Atlantic, generally in deeper waters, the ocean quahog, black quahog, mahogany clam or Icelandic cyprine, Arctica islandica

Synonyms

• (Mercenaria mercenaria): hard clam, chowder clam, round clam; count neck (smallest), littleneck (small), cherrystone (smaller medium), topneck (larger medium)

• (largest size of quahog): chowder clam

Verb

quahog (third-person singular simple present quahogs, present participle quahogging, simple past and past participle quahogged)

(intransitive) To dig for quahogs.

Source: Wiktionary

Qua"hog, Qua"haug, n. Etym: [Abbrev. fr. Narragansett Indian poquaûhock.] (Zoöl.)

Definition: An American market clam (Venus mercenaria). It is sold in large quantities, and is highly valued as food. Called also round clam, and hard clam.

Note: The name is also applied to other allied species, as Venus Mortoni of the Gulf of Mexico.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition