Meaning & use
cherrystone clam
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Meaning
nouncountableAmerican
A hard-shelled clam of middling size, larger than a littleneck and smaller than a chowder clam, eaten raw, steamed or baked.
Grammar: Countable: a cherrystone clam, a dozen cherrystones; often shortened to cherrystone.
Patterns
- a plate of cherrystone clams
- cherrystone clams on the half shell
We ordered a dozen cherrystone clams on the half shell.
The chef stuffed the cherrystone clams with breadcrumbs and garlic.
He steamed a pot of cherrystone clams for the beach party.
Word forms
| plural | cherrystone clams |
|---|
Common combinations
- raw cherrystone clams
- The bar serves raw cherrystone clams with lemon.
- steamed cherrystones
- She loves steamed cherrystones with butter.
- stuffed cherrystone clams
- Stuffed cherrystone clams were the house special.
- shuck cherrystones
- It takes practice to shuck cherrystones safely.
- baked cherrystone clams
- Baked cherrystone clams arrived hot and sizzling.
Synonyms and how they differ
- quahog
- Quahog names the whole species, while cherrystone names a particular size of that clam.
- littleneck
- Littleneck is the smaller size of the same clam, tender enough to eat raw, whereas cherrystones are bigger and chewier.
- hard clam
- Hard clam is the general name for the group, while cherrystone points to a middle size.
- chowder clam
- Chowder clam is the largest and toughest size, normally chopped for soups, while cherrystone is better eaten whole.
Word family
Commonly confused: cherrystone clam or cherry stone?
cherrystone clam vs cherry stone
A cherry stone is the pit inside a cherry; cherrystone clam is a shellfish, written as one word in the middle.
Practice
Which size order is correct, smallest to largest, for the hard clam?
Choose one answer.
Littlenecks are the smallest, cherrystones are in the middle, and large quahogs are the biggest.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cherrystone clam”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.