cockleshell
Americannoun
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a shell of the cockle.
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a shell of some other mollusk, as the scallop.
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Nautical. any light or frail vessel.
noun
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the shell of the cockle
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any of the valves of the shells of certain other bivalve molluscs, such as the scallop
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any small light boat
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a badge worn by pilgrims
Etymology
Origin of cockleshell
First recorded in 1375–1425, cockleshell is from late Middle English cokille shell. See cockle 1, shell
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They came from another storm: a 40-knot northeast wind that whipped up ten-foot waves and tossed, the presidential yacht Williamsburg around like a cockleshell under a bathtub faucet.
From Time Magazine Archive
By dawn of May 30, the first wave of an astounding cockleshell armada was heading across the Channel.
From Time Magazine Archive
So sure were these hardy Elizabethans of reaching their goal that they sheathed their cockleshell ships with lead, to protect the timbers from the worms of India.
From Time Magazine Archive
Financing an unknown foreigner to sail the unknown deep in three cockleshell boats in the hope of discovering a mythical Zipangu cannot, by the widest exercise of language, be called 'a conservative investment.'
From Time Magazine Archive
Why, that cockleshell of a Britain has forty millions!
From The Melting-Pot by Israel Zangwill
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
