mussels
mussels — noun
- musselssingular
- musselsesplural
1. a sea animal whose body is protected by two dark-coloured shell halves that snap
a sea animal whose body is protected by two dark-coloured shell halves that snap shut. Mussels attach themselves to rocks near coasts and are widely gathered as food — commonly steamed in wine with garlic or served in a pot with a savoury broth.
At the seaside market, Renata bought two bags of fresh mussels for the dinner party.
fresh mussels — common adjective for seafood quality
Vivek steamed the mussels with white wine, garlic, and a handful of parsley.
steam + mussels + wine — typical cooking pattern
The coastal restaurant serves its mussels in a rich tomato broth with bread.
After the tide went out, the children found hundreds of mussels clinging to the rocks.
Talia scraped the beards off each mussel before rinsing them under cold water.
- clams
also bivalve mollusks with two shells, but clams have rounder, thicker shells and live buried in sand rather than attached to rocks
- oysters
different shellfish with rougher, irregular shells; oysters are more often eaten raw and can produce pearls
- scallops
have fan-shaped shells with ridges; the edible part is the large white muscle, while mussels are eaten whole
文法句型
always used in plural form
often used with cooking verbs: cook/steam/serve + mussels
用法筆記
Mussels are almost always referred to in the plural. The singular form (a mussel) is used mainly when talking about one individual shell or one piece of meat, e.g., 'There was a single mussel left in the pot.'