Littleneck: meaning, definitions and examples

This term is commonly used in gourmet cooking and restaurants to refer to small, tender clams often used in dishes like pasta and seafood soups.

• The chef prepared a delightful linguine with littleneck clams and white wine sauce.
• For the appetizer, we enjoyed a dozen steamed littlenecks with garlic butter.

This generic term can refer to any small-sized clam without specifying the type. It's used commonly in everyday language when the exact type of clam is not important to the conversation.

• She collected a bunch of small clams during her beach walk.
• The seafood stew was loaded with shrimp, mussels, and small clams.

This term refers to a type of quahog clam that is slightly larger than littleneck clams. It's often favored for its meatiness and is used in both raw and cooked applications.

• The raw bar featured a selection of cherrystone clams served with a tangy mignonette sauce.
• For the clam bake, they used a mixture of littlenecks and cherrystones.

A broader term used to describe hard clams in general, particularly in the Northeastern United States. It can refer to clams of various sizes, from littlenecks to chowders.

• The local fisherman boasted about his daily catch, which included dozens of quahog clams.
• New England clam chowder is traditionally made with large quahog clams.