oyster (oister)

[Early mod. E. also oister, oistre; G. ūster, now auster ) = Icel. Sw. ostra = Dan. östers, IMG:content-2096.jpg:[graphic] A Fo il Oyster, Ostrea longirostris. Ostreida, such as Ostrea edulis, the common species of Europe, and O. virginica, that of the Atlantic coast of the United States. The species are very numerous, and are found in all temperate and tropical countries, in salt and brackish water; there are also many fo il species. The shell is very irregular, both inequivalve and in equilateral, with one valve flattened and the other more concavo-convex, both rough outside and nacreous inside. Each valve has one purplish eye or spot, showing where the single adductorial muscle is attached, oysters being thus monomyarian. The gristly button shaped body in the flesh is this ligament. The soft greenish substance corresponds to a liver. The fluted layers around a part of the body are the gills or breathing-organs. Oysters have sex, and are very prolific. They spawn in north temperate countries in May and June, during which period and for some time afterward they are not so good for food; whence the common saying that oysters are not eatable in those months which have nor in their names. The spawn or fry is called spat or spet. Oysters are now very extensively cultivated, the resulting stock being superior to the natural oyster. Starfishes and some carnivorous gastropods (see borer ) are among the great obstacles to succe with which oyster-culture has to contend. Oysters feed upon a great many different aquatic organisms of minute size. In confinement they eat corn-meal greedily. See cuts under ciborium, integropalliate, and Ostrea. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary Oysturs in Ceuy, oysturs in grauey, your helthe to renewe. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 171. IMG:content-2098.png:[blocks in formation] Udall , tr. of Apophthegms of Erasmus, p. 61. Here with all his wife, to make up my mouth, Not onely her husband's taunting tale avouth, But thereto deviseth to cast in my teeth Checks and choking oysters. oyster-bird (ois'ter-bėrd), n . An oyster-catcher. oyster-boat (ois'tér-bot), n . 1. A small boat used in the oyster-fishery.-2. A large estab- lishment or floating house, constructed on a raft, generally one story and sometimes two high. These houses are usually moored together, and kept in constant communication with the wharf by means of a swinging bridge, which rises and falls with the tide. They are usually about 15 yards long by 10 wide, and are oyster-bottom (ois'ter-bot"um), n. Any kind of bottom whereon oysters grow, or a bottom suitable to the growth of oysters; an oyster- bed, -rock, reef, etc. oyster-brood (ois'ter-bröd), п. A young or small oyster, about half an inch in diameter. oyster-catcher (ois'ter-kach"ėr), n. A mar i- time wading bird of the family Hem a topo did a : so called from the habit of feeding upon small oysters and other mollusks. There are several spe- cies, found on the sea-coast of most countries, all of the single genus Hæmatopus , about 18 inches long and 30 bill and feet, and the plumage either party-colored with black and white or entirely blackish. The common Euro- pean oyster-catcher, II . ostrilegus , has the head, neck, and most of the upper parts glo y-black, the under parts, rump, and parts of the wings and tail white. It is very widely distributed in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Amer- ican oyster-catcher is a similar but distinct species, H. pall i at us , having the back smoky-brown in contrast to the black head. It is common along the Atlantic coast. coast. See cut under Hæmatopus . oyster-crab (ois'ter-krab), n . One of the little crabs which live with oysters in the shells of the latter; a pea-crab. The kind which lives in the common oyster is a grapsoid crustacean, Pin no the res ostreum. See Pin no the res . oyster-cracker (ois'ter-krak"ėr), n . A small kind of cracker or biscuit served with oysters. [U. S.] oyster-culture (ois'tėr-kultūr), n. The culti- vation of oysters; the artificial breeding and rearing of oysters; oyster-farming; ostreicul- who is engaged in oyster-culture. oyster-dredge (ois'ter-drej), n. A small dredge or drag-net for bringing up oysters from the oyster-bed. oysterer (ois'ter-ér), n. One who deals in oys- ters. Not scorning Scullions, Cobblers, Colliers, Jakes-farmers, Fidlers, Ostlers, Oysterers. an oyster obtained from Cape Cod or vicinity be a kinder northern native or hard oyster. Also called Čapes . [Bos- ton, Ma achusetts.] - Cat's-tongue oyster, a very nar- row and elongated oyster. The habit of growing in the erect position, where the banks are prolific and undisturbed, crowds the oysters together, so that under such conditions they do not have a chance to expand laterally. Cocks- comb oyster. Same as cockscomb , 3.- Cove oyster. (a) A name of oysters growing singly in or scattered over coves, creeks, bays, old planting-grounds, etc., too sparsely to be taken by the ordinary method of tonging, but cap- tured singly in from four to eight feet of water with nip- pers. Such oysters are usually large and fat, and are com- monly called coves . (b) Among packers, steamed oysters packed in hermetically sealed cans: a trade-name. - Drag- oyster, a small but delicate oyster from New Haven harbor (named from Dragon , nickname of the oystering oyster-farm (ois'ter-färm), n. A place where village of Fair Haven). [New Eng.)- English oyster, oyster-farming is conducted. the common European oyster, Ostrea edulis . - Hard oysoyster-farming (ois'ter-färming), n. Oyster- ter, the native northern oyster of the United States.ー culture. Mangrove oyster, an oyster growing on the submerged trunks or roots of mangrove-trees, as in Florida. - Moun- tain-oyster, a lamb's testicle.- Northern oyster, Os- trea borealis , growing in northerly parts of the United States, sometimes supposed to be a distinct species from the southern Ostrea virginica . Racoon oyster, an oyster growing in shallow water and daily exposed to the air dur- ing ebb-tide, whence they become small and poor. They have many fanciful local names. Reef-oyster, an oyster growing naturally on reefs; a reefer. [Alabama to Texas.] - Saddle rock oyster, the first or largest grade of oys- ters in the New York market. The oysters that first bore that name were taken from a rock so called in Little Neck Bay, Long Island, the supply from which was soon exhausted. - Sand-oysters, oysters which have been scattered and exposed or damaged on sand-shoals; sanded oysters. - Shrews bury oysters, oysters from oyster-field (ois'tėr-fēld), n. An oyster-bed; an oyster-bank. If a barrel of oysters were planted in an estuary of the sea and their progeny preserved in succe ive generations for ten years, the oyster - field thus produced would supply a bounteous repast for every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth. oyster-fish (ois'ter-fish), n. 11. An oyster. Florio . - 2. A batrachoid fish, Batrachus tau , generally called toad - fish .-3. A labroid fish, Tautog a Tautog a on it is ; the tautog. oyster-fishery (ois'ter-fish"ėr-i), n. The prac- tice or busine of taking oysters. oyster-fishing (ois'ter-fishing), n. busine of fishing for oysters. oyster-fork (ois'ter-fôrk), n . A small and light fork designed for use in eating oysters, espe- cially raw oysters served on the half-shell. oyster-gage (ois'tėr-gāj), n. A model of an oys- ter in metal or other permanent material, used as a standard of marketable size. oyster-gra (ois'ter-gras), n. Kelp and other seaweed growing upon oysters and mu els or upon beds in which they occur. [New Jersey coast.] oyster-green (ois'ter-grēn), n. A plant, Ulva lati ima : same as laver - bread . oyster-hammer (ois'tėr-ham"ėr), n . A ham- mer used for breaking the shells of oysters to open them. oystering (ois'tėr-ing), n . The act or busine of dredging for or otherwise taking oysters. The capital which carries on the oystering in the Dela- ware waters is almost wholly derived from Philadelphia, and most of the men employed belong there. oysterman (ois'ter-man), n.; pl. oystermen (-men). A man engaged in rearing, taking, or selling oysters; an oysterer. It was a tall young oysterman lived by the river-side. O. W. Holmes, Ballad of the Oysterman. oyster-mushroom (ois'ter-mush"röm), n . Aga- ricus ostreatus , an esculent fungus with a large, thick, fleshy pileus. oyster-park (ois'ter-pärk), n. [F. parc d'huî- tres.] An oyster-bed. oyster-plant (ois'tėr-plant), n . IMG:content-2099.png:[blocks in formation] OZ. Oz. An abbreviation of ounce. The second let ter here, while identical in form with the letter z, is really the character used by early printers for the arbitrary mark of terminal contraction, 3, which is common in medieval manuscripts. It occurs also in viz.