mussel
贻贝,蚌壳,贝壳,贝壳类
Related Words
Definitions
- 1
- : any bivalve mollusk, especially an edible marine bivalve of the family Mytilidae and a freshwater clam of the family Unionidae.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Where does mussel come from?
Take a quick gander at your muscles. Do you think they look anything like … mice? And do you think mice resemble mussels, as in the edible mollusk? This may sound odd to you, but to the ancient Romans, it would have made perfect sense.This is because both the words muscle and mussel come from musculus, which literally means “little mouse”.As far as we can tell, the ancient Romans thought that the movement of a muscle, especially when flexing, looked like a mouse was running under your skin. If you don’t know how muscles work, it sounds as reasonable a guess as any.Now to the mollusk: the ancient Romans apparently also thought that mussels, the shellfish, looked like little mice. The word mussels also comes from that same Latin noun as muscle: musculus.The roots of these other words may get a rise—of laughter or surprise—out of you. Run on over to our roundup of them at “Weird Word Origins That Will Make Your Family Laugh.”
Examples
Bivalves — clams, mussels and oysters — can seem intimidating if you’re not used to cooking them.
Check over the mussels to look for “gapers” — mussels that are open.
You’ll find good mussel farms in the Atlantic off the northeastern coast of the United States as well as in the Pacific Northwest.
Blue mussels can be found on both of America’s coasts, and prefer the cooler waters of Maine and New England.
The most important varieties are likely the California mussel and the blue or common mussel.
Page Six says they dined on mussel soup, crayfish and artichoke risotto at a tony Venetian restaurant.
The Chinese and natives of the place chew this nut with betel-leaf and calcined mussel-shells.
There was no welcome on Mrs. Mussel's mat, but I'm still glowing.
Mrs. Mussel gets five of it and the rest I may waste in riotous living.
The boats that were hovering about on the sea looked no bigger than mussel shells.
The Starfish merely presses the mussel into its mouth, cleans out the shells, and throws them away.