oyster bed

noun

: a place where oysters grow or are cultivated

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web But perhaps the most important reason for making reef preservation a priority is the oyster bed’s role in providing storm protection. Sara Novak, Scientific American, 6 Apr. 2023 Years of Decline The Jenkins family ran a seafood business on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia until disease ravaged the oyster beds there. Anita Lee, ProPublica, 22 Mar. 2023 The hands-on outing combines sightseeing, hauling in lobster traps, surfcast fishing from the shore, and digging for Retsyo oysters in an oyster bed farm just 900 feet from the hotel. Jennifer Billock, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Feb. 2022 Some of the proceeds from this wine are donated to oyster bed revitalization efforts, to ensure there will always be food to enjoy with it. Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2021 Additional reefs would be built in other public oyster grounds where conditions are suitable for growing oysters, but where substrate cultch — the stone, shells and other material that makes up an oyster bed — does not exist. Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com, 9 Aug. 2020 Before pollution from industrialization nearly wiped them out, oyster beds—comprising trillions of oysters—covered as many as 200,000 acres in New York Harbor, and New York City was the world’s oyster culture epicenter. Outside Online, 27 Apr. 2020 From oyster bed restoration projects to the increase in marine protected areas, conservation efforts are growing worldwide. Nusmila Lohani, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Apr. 2020 One is a program to elevate oyster beds, protecting them from low-oxygen conditions along the bottom. al, 3 Jan. 2020 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'oyster bed.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1591, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of oyster bed was in 1591

Dictionary Entries Near oyster bed

Cite this Entry

“Oyster bed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oyster%20bed. Accessed 28 May. 2023.

Kids Definition

oyster bed

noun
: a place where oysters grow or are cultivated
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!