MEANING
A marine or freshwater mollusk with two hinged shells, including edible species that form dense attached clusters.
Use it for
describing dark shellfish attached to rocks; identifying an edible two-shelled animal; distinguishing shellfish from body muscleNames an attached two-shelled mollusk and distinguishes the animal from a muscle in the body. Writing functions: Two-shelled aquatic mollusk.
Words that belong together
- a bed of mussels
- blue mussels
- mussel shells
On the page
Mussels crowded the shaded side of the harbor steps.
The gull dropped a mussel onto the rocks to break its shell.
Word forms
- Base
- mussel
Usage notes
Countable noun: mussel, mussels. Sounds like muscle but is spelled differently. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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