shellfish
- 01 B1 Intermediate
animals that live in water and have a shell, like crabs, lobsters, or mussels, which people often eat.
a culinary and biological category for aquatic invertebrates with shells, specifically crustaceans and molluscs, used as a food source.
Simple“She is allergic to shellfish, so she never eats lobster or shrimp.”
In context“The restaurant specialises in locally sourced shellfish, offering a variety of oysters, clams, and seasonal crabs caught that morning.”
UsageOften used as an uncountable noun when referring to food, but can be countable when referring to specific species.
Teacher's tipLearners often confuse this with 'fish'; clarify that shellfish are invertebrates and that allergies to them are distinct from fish allergies.
PitfallI ate many shellfishes at the buffet. I ate a lot of shellfish at the buffet.Shellfish is usually uncountable when referring to it as food or a general category.
Synonymscrustaceanmollusc
Inherited from Middle English schellefyssch, from Old English sċielfisċ. Equivalent to shell + fish.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.