surf clam

noun

: any of various typically rather large surf-dwelling edible clams (family Mactridae)

especially : a common clam (Spisula solidissima) of the Atlantic coast chiefly from Nova Scotia to South Carolina

Examples of surf clam in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Chinese researchers described the gonadal development of the dwarf surf clam, and astrophysicists discovered the tightest ultracool dwarf binary. —

Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Apr. 2023 Waves had kicked surf clams out of the offshore sediments and strewn them on the shore, where seagulls were trying to figure out how to fly off with such heavy larder. —

William Sargent, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Apr. 2020 Now scientists like Saba want to know what might happen to animals that live in the Northeast, a region home to commercially important fishes, wild stocks of quahogs (clams), scallops, and surf clams that can't swim away from growing acidic waters. —

Eric Niiler, National Geographic, 15 June 2018 This region is home to commercially important fishes, as well as wild stocks of quahogs, scallops, and surf clams that can't swim away from growing acidic waters. —

Eric Niiler, WIRED, 30 Mar. 2018

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