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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

oyster.

Any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɔɪ.stə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔɪ.stɚ/General-American/ˈɔɪ.st͡ʃɚ/Southern-US, regional
  1. Any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers.

  2. The delicate oyster-shaped morsel of dark meat contained in a small cavity of the bone on each side of the lower part of the back of a fowl.

  3. Any of the fungi in the genera Pleurotus, Hohenbuehelia, or other related genera.

  4. A pale beige color tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.

  5. A person who keeps secrets.

    colloquial
  6. Something at one's disposal.

    figuratively
  7. A shoplifter.

    UK · slang
  8. Ellipsis of Oyster card.

    UK · abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis · slang
Where this word comes from

From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which is from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon). Doublet of ostro (“a purple dye”).

adj/ˈɔɪ.stə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔɪ.stɚ/General-American/ˈɔɪ.st͡ʃɚ/Southern-US, regional
  1. Of a pale beige colour tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which is from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon). Doublet of ostro (“a purple dye”).

verb/ˈɔɪ.stə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔɪ.stɚ/General-American/ˈɔɪ.st͡ʃɚ/Southern-US, regional
  1. To fish for oysters.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which is from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon). Doublet of ostro (“a purple dye”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.