‖ lithodomus Zool.
(lɪˈθɒdəməs)
Pl. -i.
[mod.L., ad. Gr. λιθοδόµος mason, f. λίθος stone- + -δόµος building, δέµειν to build.]
A genus of small mussels which burrow in rock or stone; a mussel of this genus, a date-shell.
| 1833 Lyell Princ. Geol. Gloss., Lithodomi, molluscous animals which bore into solid rocks, and lodge themselves in the holes they have formed. 1843 W. Humble Dict. Geol. etc., Lithodomus. 1848 Craig, Lithodomes, Lithodomi. 1851–6 Woodward Mollusca 11 The shipworm adheres to timber, and the pholas and lithodomus to limestone rocks. |