U.S. Also quau-, quohog. [Narraganset Indian, given by Roger Williams as poquauhock: -k or -g is the plural ending in Algonquian tongues.] The common round clam (Venus mercenaria) of the Atlantic coast of North America: = HEN sb. 6.
[1643. R. Williams, Key Lang. Amer., 107. Poquauhock, this the English call Hens, a little thick shel-fish, which the Indians wade deepe and dive for.]
1828. in Webster.
1851. H. Melville, Moby-Dick, xiv. 70. They first caught crabs and quohogs in the sand.
1881. E. Ingersoll, in Scribner’s Mag., XXII. 656/1. So seemingly impregnable a victim [of the star-fish] as the quahaug.
1882. Standard, 26 Sept., 2/1. In every hotel bill of fare the clam or quahog … figures in a variety of shapes.
