bivalve C2 Topic:Animals US /ˈbaɪvælv/ UK /ˈbaɪvælv/ See IPA manual Freq #186252 Meanings 1 noun a mollusc of the class Bivalvia whose body is enclosed by two hinged shell valves, such as a clam, mussel, oyster, or scallop The scallop is a mobile bivalve that can swim by rapidly opening and closing its shell. 2 adj having a shell, seedcase, or other structure made of two hinged or separable valves The specimen had a bivalve shell with two nearly equal halves. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a mollusc of the class... bivalve mollusclamellibranchpelecypod 2 adj · having a shell, seedcase,... bivalvedtwo-valved ↔ Opposites univalve Word family Forms bivalves Derived forms bivalvedbivalvate Related forms Bivalviamolluscclamvalve Etymology Formed from bi-, 'two,' + valve, from Latin valva, 'leaf of a folding door.' The two parts of a mollusc shell were compared to paired door leaves joined by a hinge. Topics Animals External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # bivalve **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** noun, adj **IPA (US):** /ˈbaɪvælv/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈbaɪvælv/ **Frequency rank:** 186252 ## Meanings 1. a mollusc of the class Bivalvia whose body is enclosed by two hinged shell valves, such as a clam, mussel, oyster, or scallop 2. having a shell, seedcase, or other structure made of two hinged or separable valves ## Examples - The scallop is a mobile bivalve that can swim by rapidly opening and closing its shell. - The specimen had a bivalve shell with two nearly equal halves. ## Synonyms - bivalve mollusc - lamellibranch - pelecypod - bivalved - two-valved ## Antonyms - univalve ## Derived Forms - bivalved - bivalvate ## Related Forms - Bivalvia - mollusc - clam - valve ## Etymology Formed from bi-, 'two,' + valve, from Latin valva, 'leaf of a folding door.' The two parts of a mollusc shell were compared to paired door leaves joined by a hinge. ## Topics - Animals markdown