shellfish — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A fisheries and colloquial term for an aquatic invertebrate having an inner or outer shell, such as a mollusc or crustacean, especially when edible.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

2. A culinary and nutritional term for several groups of non-piscine, non-tetrapod, aquatic animals that are used as a food source. The term often exclusively refers to edible aquatic crustaceans, bivalve mollusks and cephalopod mollusks; but sometimes echinoderms may be included as well.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

Noun

1. meat of edible aquatic invertebrate with a shell (especially a mollusk or crustacean)

   Broader terms

   seafood

2. invertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell

   Synonyms

   molluskmollusc

   Broader terms

   invertebrate