scallop

Etymology

From Old French escalope (“shell”). Doublet of escalope. Related to scale and shell.

noun

1. Any of various marine bivalve molluscs of the family Pectinidae which are free-swimming.
2. One of a series of curves, forming an edge similar to a scallop shell, especially in knitting and crochet.
3. (cooking) A fillet of meat, escalope.
4. (cooking) A form of fried potato.
5. A dish shaped like a scallop shell.

verb

1. To create or form an edge in the shape of a crescent or multiple crescents.
   We can scallop coastlines to make them longer to serve more people. 1966, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, page 362
   Although aggressive, the lesion tends to scallop and not destroy the adjacent osseous structures. 2010, Girish M. Fatterpekar, The Teaching Files: Head and Neck Imaging
   The daughter of the family, Katie, was older than I, an accomplished seamstress who helped me sew my first garment, a pull-over apron, and showed me how to scallop the neckline of a linen blouse. 2012, Jo McDougall, Hilary Masters, Daddy’s Money: A Memoir of Farm and Family
   On the vertical stone you have to move the glass fairly quickly or it will tend not only to facet but also to scallop, since there is less glass surface touching than with the horizontal. 2013, Anita & Seymour Isenberg, How to Work in Beveled Glass: Forming, Designing, and Fabricating
   Then, letting go of Option/ Alt, Gordon dragged the widget inward to scallop the corners. 2014, Sharon Steuer, The Adobe Illustrator WOW! Book for CS6 and CC, page 100
2. (transitive) To bake in a casserole (gratin), originally in a scallop shell; especially used in form scalloped
   I stewed them, made them into soup, and crowned all my efforts by a grand success in scalloping them, deceiving every one into the belief that they were eating oysters. 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 123
   And I can scallop those cold boiled potatoes and stew a can of tomatoes. 1908, Mary Mapes Dodge, St. Nicholas - Volume 35, Part 2, page 1104
   You can scallop, steam, poach, bread, brown, stuff, or put your fish in a sauce, and still have it moist and tender. 1988, Margie Kreschollek, The guaranteed goof-proof microwave cookbook, page 106
   You can scallop them and if you're good in the kitchen, souffle them. 2007, Andy Rooney, Out of My Mind
   By the way, sometimes cut or chop these potatoes quite fine, and after creaming them put crumbs on top and bake them; that is a good change. Of course you can scallop the second supply, too, or chop and brown them, or serve in any one of a dozen ways; look those things all up, so you will not get into a rut. 2015, Caroline French Benton, Living on a Little
3. (intransitive) To harvest scallops
   He has never wanted to live anywhere but the Island, he says, where he can scallop or ice-boat in winter, depending on his mood; hunt bluebills and deer in season; look after his cows and his sheep. 1972, Phyllis Méras, First spring: a Martha's Vineyard journal, page 18
   The project has just now been completed only for me to find I may not be able to catch scallops by placing the F/V "Miss Sue Ann" into the Occasional catagory. Please let me know how, given the unusual factual situation that I find myself in, I can scallop more than 19 days. 1993, Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery, Fisheries Management Plan
   Jimmy used to scallop from October to March and bartend a few shifts here and there over the summers when scalloping is prohibited. 2012, Lisa Genova, Love Anthony