Standard Lemma guide

quahog

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkəʊ.hɒɡ/
  • Received-Pronunciation:
  • General-American: /ˈkwɔ.hɔɡ/
  • General-American:
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K W AA1 HH AO2 G Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An edible clam with a hard shell found along the Atlantic Coast of North America, from species Mercenaria mercenaria, formerly Venus mercenaria.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hard clam, round clam, Mercenaria mercenaria

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clam, mollusk, invertebrate, animal, organism

2

noun

Meaning 2

An edible clam with a hard shell found along the Atlantic Coast of North America, from species Mercenaria mercenaria, formerly Venus mercenaria.

The largest size of such an edible clam, generally considered only fit for use in chowders and other clam dishes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hard clam, round clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, chowder clam

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clam, mollusk, invertebrate, animal, organism, hard clam, round clam, Mercenaria mercenaria

3

noun

Meaning 3

A similar edible clam, of species Arctica islandica, found along coasts around the North Atlantic, generally in deeper waters.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ocean quahog, black quahog, mahogany clam, Icelandic cyprine

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To dig for quahogs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

an edible American clam; the heavy shells were used as money by some American Indians

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: quahaug, hard-shell clam, hard clam, round clam, Venus mercenaria, Mercenaria mercenaria

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clam

Narrower terms: littleneck, littleneck clam, cherrystone, cherrystone clam

6

noun

Meaning 6

Atlantic coast round clams with hard shells; large clams usually used for chowders or other clam dishes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: quahaug, hard-shell clam, round clam

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clam

Narrower terms: littleneck, littleneck clam, cherrystone, cherrystone clam

History

Etymology

Most often thought to be from Narragansett poquaûhock (“hard clam”), or perhaps from pohkeni (“dark”) + hogki (“shell”). Alternatively from Mohegan-Pequot p'quaghhaug (“hard clam”) or another Algonquian language.

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: kampavenussimpukka — Mercenaria mercenaria
  • Finnish: islanninsimpukka — Arctica islandica