Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Variant of mollusk.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See mollusk.
Wiktionary
- n. A soft-bodied invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, typically with a hard shell of one or more pieces.
- n. figuratively A weak-willed person.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) Same as mollusk.
WordNet 3.0
- n. invertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell
Etymologies
- From French mollusque, from New Latin Mollusca (phylum name), from Latin molluscus ("thin-shelled"), from mollis ("soft"); see Proto-Indo-European *mel-. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“In each case the mollusc is a loose fit in its burrow, having ample room for rotation, but the aperture of the latter is what is known as a cassinian oval, and generally projects slightly above the surface of the coral.”
“The embryo of a Vertebrate might at a certain stage of development, be called a mollusc, if for instance, it had the heart of a mollusc.”
Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology
“Having written a piece about the 'mollusc' otherwise known as the Wales Millennium Centre I thought that it was only fair to allow my non-Cardiff based readers to see what their taxpayers money has been spent on.”
“In the waters of Florida is a distinct curiosity in the form of an altogether different mollusc which is commonly known as the “bleeding-tooth shell,” the gory stains about the base of the tooth being highly significant.”
“In the waters of Florida is a distinct curiosity in the form of an altogether different mollusc which is commonly known as the”
“Though they might superficially look like just another kind of mollusc, brachiopods belonged to an entirely different phylum, one that flourished during the past but has been reduced to just a handful of species today.”
“The New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is a lake-dwelling mollusc whose females can be either sexually reproducing (requiring male 'input' for successful embryo production), or asexually reproducing (clonally reproducing without sexual activity).”
“A factor must surely be that by far the majority of mollusc species are aquatic (I am assuming again) and harder to study.”
“Those were the formative years of malacology when even the broadest classifications of most of the mollusc species were debatable.”
“I mean, if someone devotes their life to studying an obscure mollusc rather than campaigning for better housing, presumably it's because they feel the world is mostly OK as it is.”
The Guardian: Liberal bias: science writing's elephant in the room?
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mollusc’.
-
SCIE - EU nomenclature
All the scientific words found in the official EU nomenclature. For the screening I used Vocabgrabber of the Visual Thesaurus.
abdominal, absorbent, accelerator, accumulator, acebutolol, acetamide, acetanilide, acetate, acetic acid, acetone, acetous, acetyl and 1171 more...
-
molluscs
very comprehensive list
of molluscs,who does not like
calamari? hmm yum
molluscigerous
100,000 species just in molluscsabalone, ammonite, argonaut, ataata, belon, bivalve, blackhead, bluepoint, brachiopod, buckie, byssal, byssus and 271 more...
-
UK Usage - Find US Equivalent
All these terms have a (different) American English equivalent. Wonder if you can identify them?
abridgement (abri..., accoutrement, accoutre, acknowledgement (..., opposite, advert, adaptor, adapter, sticking plaster, advertise, adviser (advisor ..., adze, aesthete and 1196 more...
-
IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
-
PECH - marine species
African cuttlefish, Alaska plaice, Alaska pollock, Alaska pollack, walleye pollock, alewife, gaspereau, river herring, sawbelly, allis shad, American angler, goosefish and 994 more...
-
Ends with C but not with "-ic"
bloc, roc, arc, orc, disc, sac, xebec, havoc, bivouac, sumac, maniac, insomniac and 418 more...
-
cloudjuice's Words
schadenfreude, sordid, promulgate, erratic, erroneous, amalgamate, sesquipedalian, incongruous, psychosis, etymology, simulacrum, serendipity and 988 more...
-
Snaily, clammy, squidy
The list is mainly a vehicle to give some quotations about mollusks, so check the comments.
oyster, snail, nacre, clam, paua, slug, limpet, shell, scallop, whelk, winkle, conchology and 26 more...
-
Words that I like based on the way th...
These are words that have interesting spelling, or just include a collection of letters that I like seeing.
diktat, ossify, claqueur, opaquest, ersatz, awkward, mollusc, lollop, abyss, aloof, waltz, ably and 1 more...
-
subdermal irritants
ointment, flummox, kinnikinnick, lozenge, blabbermouth, blurb, blurb, lollies, fizzy drink, fizzy drink, yawning, suck it and 41 more...
-
Beastiary
leviathan, behemoth, serpent, sugar glider, devon rex, reindeer, camel, raptor, mollusc, octopus, squid, pachyderm and 3 more...
-
alexjdsmith's list
Tweets
Looking for tweets for mollusc.

mollusque The scientific celebrities, forgetting their molluscs and glacial periods, gossiped about art, while devoting themselves to oysters and ices with characteristic energy....
--Louisa May Alcott, 1868, Little Women Nov 9, 2007