[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/oyster/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [O](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/o/) / oyster

# oyster

noun (an oyster, oysters)

«oyster» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A sea animal with a soft body inside a rough, hinged shell; some are eaten as food. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#m1)
2. A pearl oyster: a kind of oyster that can make a pearl inside its shell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#m2)
3. In the saying «the world is your oyster»: you can go anywhere and do anything you choose. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science, oysters are molluscs that filter water to feed; oyster reefs clean the sea. In history and food, oysters were once a cheap food in London. The idiom «the world is your oyster» is often said to young people leaving school. Phrases: «oyster shell», «pearl oyster», «oyster bed», «the world is your oyster».

### Examples

- An oyster has a hard rough shell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#x1)
- A pearl grows inside an oyster when sand or grit gets in. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#x2)
- Oysters clean the water by filtering it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#x3)
- Grandad loves eating oysters at the seaside. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#x4)
- You're young and clever — the world is your oyster! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#x5)
- Fishermen collected oysters from the oyster beds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#x6)
- London's «Oyster card» is used to pay for buses and the Tube. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#x7)
- One day the fisherman went out fishing, and among his catch for the day he brought home three dozen oysters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/#x8)

### Note

Countable: an oyster, oysters (use «an»). Myth: not every oyster makes pearls, and pearls usually form around a tiny parasite or bit of tissue, not just a grain of sand. Safety: raw oysters can make people ill; only eat them fresh from a safe source.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «oyster» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oyster/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«oyster» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/oyster.html) on Mova free.