clambake (klambak)

A repast consisting chiefly of clams baked in a hole in the ground on a layer of stones previously heated, the hole being covered with seaweed, etc., during the proce , usually as an accompaniment of a picnic at the sea-shore; hence, a picnic of which such a repast is the principal feature. [U. S.] Mya arenaria, the clam par excellence, which figures so largely in the celebrated New England clam - bake, is found in all the northern seas of the world. Stand. Nat . Hist ., I. 280. clambent. Middle English preterit plural of climb.