The Collaborative International Dictionary
Giant \Gi"ant\, a. Like a giant; extraordinary in size, strength, or power; as, giant brothers; a giant son.
Giant cell. (Anat.) See Myeloplax.
Giant clam (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve shell of the genus Tridacna, esp. T. gigas, which sometimes weighs 500 pounds. The shells are sometimes used in churches to contain holy water.
Giant heron (Zo["o]l.), a very large African heron ( Ardeomega goliath). It is the largest heron known.
Giant kettle, a pothole of very large dimensions, as found in Norway in connection with glaciers. See Pothole.
Giant powder. See Nitroglycerin.
Giant puffball (Bot.), a fungus ( Lycoperdon giganteum), edible when young, and when dried used for stanching wounds.
Giant salamander (Zo["o]l.), a very large aquatic salamander ( Megalobatrachus maximus), found in Japan. It is the largest of living Amphibia, becoming a yard long.
Giant squid (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of very large squids, belonging to Architeuthis and allied genera. Some are over forty feet long.
WordNet
n. giant clam inhabiting reefs in the southern Pacific weighing up to 500 pounds [syn: Tridacna gigas]
Wikipedia
The giant clam (Tridacna gigas), known as pā’ua in Cook Islands Māori, is a clam that is the largest living bivalve mollusk.
Tridacna gigas is one of the most endangered clam species. Antonio Pigafetta documented these in his journal as early as 1521. One of a number of large clam species native to the shallow coral reefs of the South Pacific and Indian oceans, they can weigh more than , measure as much as across, and have an average lifespan in the wild of over 100 years. They are also found off the shores of the Philippines, where they are called "taklobo", and in the South China Sea in the coral reefs of Sabah ( Malaysian Borneo). Tridacna gigas lives in flat coral sand or broken coral and can be found at depths of as much as 20 m (66 ft). Its range covers the Indo-Pacific, but populations are diminishing quickly and the giant clam has become extinct in many areas where it was once common. Tridacna maxima has the largest geographical distribution among giant clam species; it can be found off high- or low-elevation islands, in lagoons or fringing reefs. Its rapid growth rate is likely due to its ability to cultivate algae in its body tissue.
Although larval clams are planktonic, they become sessile in adulthood. The creature's mantle tissues act as a habitat for the symbiotic single-celled dinoflagellate algae ( zooxanthellae) from which the adult clams get most of their nutrition. By day, the clam opens its shell and extends its mantle tissue so that the algae receive the sunlight they need to photosynthesize.
Usage examples of "giant clam".
We had sea turtle, caguama, cooked in its shell with an odd spicy sauce, and bacha, the giant clam with the sweet, firm meat, broiled just enough.
The giant clam waited, open-mouthed, then the pealing tone of a great bell echoed through the chamber.
The money would go in the giant clam-shell ashtray, a real shocker for a man like Coin, but what would he do about the Illuminati ships?
It stood next to a giant clam, propped open, showing a skeletonized foot inside.
It takes a team of four horses to force the giant clam of the South Seas to yawn against its will.
They continue to exist by lurking among the dangerous tentacles of the sea anemone or around the lips of the giant clam and other perilous crevices shunned by all sensible fish.
The Glant split down its length like a giant clam, opened out and spilled its flaming, exploding guts into space.
Theyve got these fish in the Pacific and the giant clam into the bargain.
They've got these fish in the Pacific and the giant clam into the bargain.