cockle

¹ American  

[kok-uhl] / ˈkɒk əl /

noun

1. any bivalve mollusk of the genus Cardium, having somewhat heart-shaped, radially ribbed valves, especially C. edule, the common edible species of Europe.

2. any of various allied or similar mollusks.

3. cockleshell.

4. a wrinkle; pucker.

   a cockle in fabric.

5. a small, crisp candy of sugar and flour, bearing a motto.

---

verb (used without object)

cockled, cockling

1. to contract into wrinkles; pucker.

   This paper cockles easily.

2. to rise in short, irregular waves; ripple.

   The waves cockled along the shore.

verb (used with object)

cockled, cockling

1. to cause to wrinkle, pucker, or ripple.

   The wind cockled the water.

idioms

1. cockles of one's heart, the depths of one's emotions or feelings.

   The happy family scene warmed the cockles of his heart.

cockle ² American  

[kok-uhl] / ˈkɒk əl /

noun

1. a weed, as the darnel Lolium temulentum, or rye grass, L. perenne.

---

cockle ¹ British  

/ ˈkɒkəl /

noun

1. any sand-burrowing bivalve mollusc of the family Cardiidae, esp Cardium edule ( edible cockle ) of Europe, typically having a rounded shell with radiating ribs

2. any of certain similar or related molluscs

3. short for cockleshell

4. a wrinkle or puckering, as in cloth or paper

5. a small furnace or stove

6. one's deepest feelings (esp in the phrase warm the cockles of one's heart )

---

verb

1. to contract or cause to contract into wrinkles

cockle ² British  

/ ˈkɒkəl /

noun

1. any of several plants, esp the corn cockle, that grow as weeds in cornfields

---

Etymology

Origin of cockle¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English cokel, cokil(le), from Old French coquille, “shell, shell of a mollusk, mollusk,” from Vulgar Latin cocchīlia (unattested), from Latin conchylia, plural of conchȳlium, from Greek konchȳ́lion, equivalent to konchȳ́l(ē) “mussel, cockle” + -ion diminutive suffix; compare Old English -cocc in sǣ-cocc literally, “sea-cockle” from Vulgar Latin coccus (unattested) for Latin concha conch

Origin of cockle²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English cok(k)el, Old English coccel; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Late Latin cocculus (unattested), diminutive of coccus “berry, seed” ( see coccus ( def. ))

Example Sentences

“This tells us that all of those nearly identical cancers came from a single cockle in the past,” Metzger said.

From Seattle Times • May 22, 2023

She hopes new cockle research will help explain how changing ocean acidity and marine heat affect the transmission or lethal effects of the cancer, and offer methods to protect other native shellfish.

From Seattle Times • May 22, 2023

Shell Beach is made up of billions of shells, specifically cockle shells that breed unchecked due to the high salinity of the water and the lack of predators able to survive in all that salt.

From The Guardian • Dec. 23, 2017

Mike Roberts, 74, who works at the soon-to-close Liverpool Coastguard Station, remembers the "whole horror" of the attempted rescue of 24 Chinese cockle pickers from Morecambe Bay in 2004.

From BBC • Jan. 15, 2015

Lake Winnebago is a notable inland sea, and the canoeist feels fairly lost, in his little cockle shell, bobbing about over its great waves.

From Historic Waterways?Six Hundred Miles of Canoeing Down the Rock, Fox, and Wisconsin Rivers by Thwaites, Reuben Gold