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clambake

American  
[klam-beyk] / ˈklæmˌbeɪk /

noun

  1. a picnic or social gathering at the seashore at which clams clam and other seafood are baked, sometimes with corn and other items, traditionally on hot stones under a covering of seaweed.

  2. Informal. any social gathering, especially a very noisy one.

clambake British  
/ ˈklæmˌbeɪk /

noun

  1. a picnic, often by the sea, at which clams, etc, are baked

  2. an informal party

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of clambake

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; clam 1 + bake

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One group will play in the PGA Tour’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a tournament that started as a clambake hosted by the crooner Bing Crosby.

From Washington Post • Jan. 6, 2022

“It was a clambake in the backyard. That was supposed to be a 250-person wedding.”

From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2020

Headlining a Rockingham County Democrats annual clambake, she zeroed in on the state’s soaring student loan debt.

From Fox News • May 22, 2019

And even with the clambake, you bring these great flourishes.

From Salon • Mar. 9, 2019

During their clambake and dance at Grody's Grove, just beyond Coney Island, she remained on the boat, lying back in a deck chair, facing a night brilliantly pointed with stars.

From Star-Dust by Hurst, Fannie

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.