oyster
n. countablen. a small shellfish that lives in the sea or rivers. You eat it raw or cooked, often as a snack or appetizer.
n. a marine or freshwater mollusc with a hinged shell, commonly consumed as food. Often used in the plural to refer to the meat inside the shell.
We ate fresh oysters at the seaside restaurant.
The chef shucked the oysters carefully before serving them on a bed of crushed ice.
The briny taste of the oyster, sharp with a hint of iodine, lingered on the palate long after the meal had ended.
From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which is from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon). Doublet of ostro (“a purple dye”).