Part 265

Claim (klām), v.&?;. [imp. & p. p. Claimed (klāmd); p. pr. & vb. n. Claiming.] [OE. clamen, claimen, OF. clamer, fr. L. clamare to cry out, call; akin to calare to proclaim, Gr. &?; to call, Skr. kal to sound, G. holen to fetch, E. hale haul.] 1. To ask for, or seek to obtain, by virtue of authority, right, or supposed right; to challenge as a right; to demand as due.

2. To proclaim. [Obs.] Spenser.

3. To call or name. [Obs.] Spenser.

4. To assert; to maintain. [Colloq.]

Claim, v. i. To be entitled to anything; to deduce a right or title; to have a claim.

We must know how the first ruler, from whom any one claims, came by his authority. Locke.

Claim, n. [Of. claim cry, complaint, from clamer. See Claim, v. t.] 1. A demand of a right or supposed right; a calling on another for something due or supposed to be due; an assertion of a right or fact.

2. A right to claim or demand something; a title to any debt, privilege, or other thing in possession of another; also, a title to anything which another should give or concede to, or confer on, the claimant. "A bar to all claims upon land." Hallam.

3. The thing claimed or demanded; that (as land) to which any one intends to establish a right; as a settler's claim; a miner's claim. [U.S. & Australia]

4. A loud call. [Obs.] Spenser

To lay claim to, to demand as a right. "Doth he lay claim to thine inheritance?" Shak.

Claim"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being claimed.

Claim"ant (?), n. [Cf. OF. clamant, p. pr. of clamer. Cf. Clamant.] One who claims; one who asserts a right or title; a claimer.

Claim"er (?), n. One who claims; a claimant.

Claim"less, a. Having no claim.

||Clair"-ob*scur" (&?;), n. [F. See Clare-obscure.] See Chiaroscuro.

Clair*voy"ance (?), n. [F.] A power, attributed to some persons while in a mesmeric state, of discering objects not perceptible by the senses in their normal condition.

Clair*voy"ant (?), a. [F., fr. clair clear + voyant, p. pr. of voir to see. See Clear, and Vision.] Pertaining to clairvoyance; discerning objects while in a mesmeric state which are not present to the senses.

Clair*voy"ant n. One who is able, when in a mesmeric state, to discern objects not present to the senses.

{ Clake, Claik (?), } n. (Zo÷l.) The bernicle goose; -- called also clack goose.

Clam (?), n. [Cf. Clamp, Clam, v. t., Clammy.] 1. (Zo÷l.) A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; as, the long clam (Mya arenaria), the quahog or round clam (Venus mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (Spisula solidissima), and other species of the United States. The name is said to have been given originally to the Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.

You shall scarce find any bay or shallow shore, or cove of sand, where you may not take many clampes, or lobsters, or both, at your pleasure. Capt. John Smith (1616).

Clams, or clamps, is a shellfish not much unlike a cockle; it lieth under the sand. Wood (1634).

2. (Ship Carp.) Strong pinchers or forceps.

3. pl. (Mech.) A kind of vise, usually of wood.

Blood clam. See under Blood.

Clam (clăm), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Clammed (klămd); p. pr. & vb. n. Clamming.] [Cf. AS. clŠman to clam, smear; akin to Icel. kleima to smear, OHG. kleimjan, chleimen, to defile, or E. clammy.] To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.

A swarm of wasps got into a honey pot, and there they cloyed and clammed Themselves till there was no getting out again. L'Estrange.