Cockle Definition

kŏkəl
cockled, cockles, cockling
noun
cockles
Any of a family (Cardiidae) of edible, marine bivalve mollusks with two heart-shaped, radially ridged shells.
Webster's New World
The shell of a cockle.
American Heritage
A wrinkle; pucker.
Webster's New World
A cockleshell.
Webster's New World
Any of various weeds that grow in grainfields, as the corn cockle.
Webster's New World
verb
cockled, cockles, cockling
To become or cause to become wrinkled or puckered.
American Heritage
To wrinkle; pucker.
Webster's New World
idiom
cockles of (one's) heart
  • One's innermost feelings:

    The valentine warmed the cockles of my heart.

American Heritage
warm the cockles of someone's heart
  • to make someone feel pleased or cheerful
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Cockle

Noun

Singular:
cockle
Plural:
cockles

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Cockle

Origin of Cockle

  • From Old French coquille, from Vulgar Latin *cocchilia, form of Latin conchylia, from Ancient Greek κογχύλιον (konkhulion), diminutive of κογχύλη (konkhulē, “mussel”), from Proto-Indo-European *konkho.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English cokel from Old French coquille shell from Vulgar Latin cochillia from Latin conchyllium from Greek konkhulion diminutive of konkhē mussel

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English cokkel from Old English coccel from Medieval Latin cocculus diminutive of Latin coccus kermes berry from Greek kokkos

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Old English coccel, perhaps from a diminutive of Latin coccus (“berry”)

    From Wiktionary

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