cockleshell

American  

[kok-uhl-shel] / ˈkɒk əlˌʃɛl /

noun

1. a shell of the cockle.

2. a shell of some other mollusk, as the scallop.

3. Nautical.  any light or frail vessel.

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cockleshell British  

/ ˈkɒkəlˌʃɛl /

noun

1. the shell of the cockle

2. any of the valves of the shells of certain other bivalve molluscs, such as the scallop

3. any small light boat

4. a badge worn by pilgrims

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Etymology

Origin of cockleshell

First recorded in 1375–1425, cockleshell is from late Middle English cokille shell. See cockle ¹, shell

Example Sentences

Never mind silver bells and cockleshells, Mary should have tossed dead fish to help her garden grown.

From BBC

In another of the parodies, John was supposed to be polishing the cockleshell paving around the pond and hanging out the washing.

From BBC

And next season, that settled, we can get back to people flaying their enemies, selling cockleshells to advance obscure revenge plots, romancing their siblings, and poisoning each other at weddings.

From The New Yorker

As does the surrounding lonely shoreline and saltmarsh, whose muddy tussocks hop with wading birds and whose beaches are composed, in part, of yellow cockleshells.

From The Guardian

As a contemporary observed of him at the colonial office, he “exaggerated the importance of everything he touched. Every speck on the horizon, he assumed, would turn out to be a Cunarder, not a cockleshell.”

From Washington Post