Plural of abalone; large sea snails with an edible muscular foot and shells lined with shimmering mother-of-pearl.
From Spanish 'abulón,' derived from Aztec Nahuatl 'ōlōni.' The word traveled from indigenous Mexican languages through Spanish colonizers into English in the 17th century.
Abalones are underwater athletes—they cling to rocks with suction power so strong that divers can barely pry them loose, and poachers once risked their lives harvesting their iridescent shells.
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