( BrE ) ( US mol·lusk ) / ˈmɒləsk; NAmE ˈmɑːl-/ noun
( technical ) any creature with a soft body that is not divided into different sections, and usually a hard outer shell. Snails and slugs are molluscs.
—compare bivalve shellfish
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WORD ORIGIN
late 18th cent.: from modern Latin mollusca , neuter plural of Latin molluscus , from mollis soft.