whelked

[hwelkt, welkt]

adjective

1. ridged like the shell of a snail.

   a whelked horn.

Word History and Origins

Origin of whelked¹

First recorded in 1550–60; whelk ¹ + -ed ³

Example Sentences

Whelked, ridged like a whelk; Whel′ky, knobby, rounded.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

And when Edgar is trying to persuade the blind Gloucester that he has in reality cast himself over the cliff, he describes the being from whom he is supposed to have just parted, thus:—     "As I stood here below, methought his eyes     Were two full moons: he had a thousand noses;     Horns whelked and wavèd like the enridgèd sea:     It was some fiend."

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