mussel

IPA/ˈmʌsl/
KK[mˈʌsəl]IPA/ˈmʌsl/

mussel — noun

  • musselsingular
  • musselsplural

1. an ocean-dwelling animal whose narrow, dark, hinged shell opens into two matchin

1.nounB2
Definition

an ocean-dwelling animal whose narrow, dark, hinged shell opens into two matching halves; the soft meat inside is often steamed and eaten.

Example

Nkechi gathered fresh mussels from the rocks at low tide.

typical setting: gathering shellfish from rocks at low tide

The chef in Brussels served a big pot of mussels with white wine and parsley.

common dish collocation: mussels with white wine

Common collocations
  • a pot of mussels
  • steamed mussels
  • fresh mussels
  • mussels in white wine
  • open mussels
Synonyms
  • shellfish

    general word covering mussels, clams, oysters, and similar sea creatures with shells

  • bivalve

    technical term for sea creatures whose shell has two matching halves

Usage Note

Countable noun; the plural 'mussels' is used much more often than the singular because the shellfish is usually eaten or gathered in groups. Do not confuse with the homophone 'muscle' (body tissue).

Common Mistakes

I ate a mussel soup last night.
I ate a bowl of mussel soup last night.
use a quantity word like 'bowl of' rather than 'a' before a dish made of many shellfish.
He pulled a muscle out of its shell.
He pulled a mussel out of its shell.
'muscle' is body tissue; 'mussel' is the shellfish.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These three sea creatures all have two-part shells, but learners should keep them apart by shape and typical use. A 'mussel' has a dark, narrow, oval shell and is usually eaten by the bowl, steamed open in wine or broth; whole markets in Belgium and France are built around the dish. A 'clam' has a rounder, paler shell and is the usual base of thick American soups such as clam chowder, or eaten raw on the half shell. An 'oyster' has a rough, irregular grey shell, is famous for being eaten raw with lemon, and is also the only one of the three that can produce a pearl inside. So at the seafood counter, dark narrow shells in a net bag are mussels, round pale shells in ice are clams, and rough lumpy shells on a tray with lemon are oysters.

mussel ↗clam ↗oyster ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • mussel shell
  • mussel farm
  • mussel soup
  • freshwater mussel

Phrases

  • steam mussels
  • harvest mussels
  • open the mussels

Prepositions

  • mussels in white wine
  • mussels on the rocks

Etymology

LatinOld EnglishEnglish

Comes from Old English 'muscle' or 'muxle', borrowed from Late Latin 'muscula', a small form of Latin 'musculus' meaning 'little mouse'. The same Latin root also gave English the word 'muscle' (body tissue), because Romans thought a flexing muscle under the skin looked like a small mouse running. The shellfish meaning split off in spelling later, with 'mussel' kept for the sea creature and 'muscle' kept for the body part.