Webster's 1913 Dictionary
PHOLAS
Pho "las, n.; pl. Pholades. Etym: [NL. , fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)
Defn: Any one of numerous species of marine bivalve mollusks of the genus Pholas, or family Pholadidæ. They bore holes for themselves in clay, peat, and soft rocks.
New American Oxford Dictionary
pholas
pholas |ˈfəʊləs | ▶noun the common piddock (mollusc ). ●Pholas dactylus, family Pholadidae. ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: modern Latin (later adopted as a genus name ), from Greek phōlas ‘that lurks in a hole ’, from phōleos ‘hole ’.
Oxford Dictionary
pholas
pholas |ˈfəʊləs | ▶noun the common piddock (mollusc ). ●Pholas dactylus, family Pholadidae. ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: modern Latin (later adopted as a genus name ), from Greek phōlas ‘that lurks in a hole ’, from phōleos ‘hole ’.
The Wordsmith Dictionary