[a. L. sōlēn, or Gr. σωλήν, channel, pipe, syringe, shell-fish, etc. So F. solen.]
1. Zool. The razor-fish, Solen ensis or siliqua.
1661. R. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., 240. Solen…. The flesh is sweet; they may be eaten fryed or boiled.
1752. Hill, Hist. Anim., 170. The large, brown, common Solen, called the Razor-shell and Sheath-shell.
1776. Mendes Da Costa, Elem. Conchol., 233. Shells with valves that … are always open or gaping in some part; as … the Chamæ, Pinnæ, and Solenes, &c.
1834. McMurtrie, Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., 268. In the Solens, properly so called, the shell is cylindrically elongated.
1841–71. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd., 538. The Solen excavates for itself a very deep hole in the sand.
Comb. 1839. Penny Cycl., XIV. 319. Solen-like Nymphidæ.
2. Surg. (See quots.)
1693. trans. Blancard’s Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Solen, an oblong Instrument which Surgeons use, to contain a broken Member.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2244/1. Solen.… a. A cradle for a broken limb. b. A tent or tilt of splits or wands to hold the bed-clothes from contact with a broken or sore limb.
Hence (from sense 1) Solenacean sb. and a.; Solenaceous a.
1842. Brande, Dict. Sci., etc. 1130/1. Solenaceans, Solenacea,… the name of a family of Dimiary Bivalve Mollusks, of which the razor shell (Solen) is the type.
1850. Ogilvie, Solenaceous, relating to the Solenaceans.
