mollusk

mol·lusk also mol·lusc  (mlsk)

n.

Any of numerous chiefly marine invertebrates of the phylum Mollusca, typically having a soft unsegmented body, a mantle, and a protective calcareous shell and including the edible shellfish and the snails.

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[French mollusque, from New Latin Mollusca, phylum name, from neuter pl. of Latin molluscus, thin-shelled, from mollis, soft; see mel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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mol·luscous (m-lsks) adj.

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mollusk or mollusc  (mlsk)

Any of numerous invertebrate animals of the phylum Mollusca, usually living in water and often having a hard outer shell. They have a muscular foot, a well-developed circulatory and nervous system, and often complex eyes. Mollusks include gastropods (snails and shellfish), slugs, octopuses, squids, and the extinct ammonites. Mollusks appear in the fossil record in the early Cambrian Period, but it is not known from what group they evolved.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

mollusk - invertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell mollusc, shellfish carapace, cuticle, shell, shield - hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles invertebrate - any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification Mollusca, phylum Mollusca - gastropods; bivalves; cephalopods; chitons scaphopod - burrowing marine mollusk gastropod, univalve - a class of mollusks typically having a one-piece coiled shell and flattened muscular foot with a head bearing stalked eyes coat-of-mail shell, polyplacophore, sea cradle, chiton - primitive elongated bilaterally symmetrical marine mollusk having a mantle covered with eight calcareous plates bivalve, lamellibranch, pelecypod - marine or freshwater mollusks having a soft body with platelike gills enclosed within two shells hinged together cephalopod, cephalopod mollusk - marine mollusk characterized by well-developed head and eyes and sucker-bearing tentacles shellfish - meat of edible aquatic invertebrate with a shell (especially a mollusk or crustacean)