DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Oys·ter n.
 1. Zool. Any marine bivalve mollusk of the genus Ostrea. They are usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers. The common European oyster (Ostrea edulis), and the American oyster (Ostrea Virginiana), are the most important species.
 2. A name popularly given to the delicate morsel contained in a small cavity of the bone on each side of the lower part of the back of a fowl.
 Fresh-water oyster Zool., any species of the genus Etheria, and allied genera, found in rivers of Africa and South America.  They are irregular in form, and attach themselves to rocks like oysters, but they have a pearly interior, and are allied to the fresh-water mussels.
 Oyster bed, a breeding place for oysters; a place in a tidal river or other water on or near the seashore, where oysters are deposited to grow and fatten for market. See 1st Scalp, n.
 Oyster catcher Zool., See oystercatcher in the vocabulary.
 Oyster crab Zool. a small crab (Pinnotheres ostreum) which lives as a commensal in the gill cavity of the oyster.
 Oyster dredge, a rake or small dragnet for bringing up oysters from the bottom of the sea.
 Oyster fish. Zool. (a) The tautog. (b) The toadfish.
 Oyster plant. Bot. (a) A plant of the genus Tragopogon (Tragopogon porrifolius), the root of which, when cooked, somewhat resembles the oyster in taste; salsify; -- called also vegetable oyster. (b) A plant found on the seacoast of Northern Europe, America and Asia (Mertensia maritima), the fresh leaves of which have a strong flavor of oysters.
 Oyster plover. Zool. Same as oystercatcher.
 Oyster shell Zool., the shell of an oyster.
 Oyster wench, Oyster wife, Oyster women, a women who deals in oysters.
 Pearl oyster. Zool. See under Pearl.
 Thorny oyster Zool., any spiny marine shell of the genus Spondylus.
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 Sal·si·fy n.  Bot. See Oyster plant (a), under Oyster.
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 Goat's beard, goatsbeard n.  Bot., A weedy European annual with yellow flowers, of the genus Tragopogon; -- so named from the long silky beard of the seeds. One species is the salsify or oyster plant; it is naturalized in US.
 Syn: -- meadow salsify, shepherd's clock, Tragopogon pratensis.
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 oyster plant
      n 1: edible root of the salsify plant [syn: salsify]
      2: Mediterranean biennial herb with long-stemmed heads of
         purple ray flowers and milky sap and long edible root;
         naturalized throughout United States [syn: salsify, vegetable
         oyster, Tragopogon porrifolius]
      3: long white-skinned salsify [syn: vegetable oyster]