Definition of COCKLE

cockle

Plural: cockles

Noun

  • common edible European bivalve
  • common edible, burrowing European bivalve mollusk that has a strong, rounded shell with radiating ribs
  • Any of various edible European bivalve mollusks, of the family Cardiidae, having heart-shaped shells.
  • The shell of such a mollusk.
  • A wrinkle, pucker
  • A defect in sheepskin; firm dark nodules caused by the bites of keds on live sheep
  • Chiefly in cockles of someone's heart: a person's innermost feelings.
  • The dome of a heating furnace.
  • The fire chamber of a furnace.
  • A kiln for drying hops; an oast.
  • The mineral black tourmaline or schorl.
  • Any of several field weeds, such as the common corncockle (Agrostemma githago) and darnel ryegrass (Lolium temulentum).
  • A £10 note; a tenner.

Verb

Verb Forms: cockled, cockling, cockles

  • To wrinkle or pucker, especially fabric or paper.
  • stir up (water) so as to form ripples
  • to gather something into small wrinkles or folds
  • To cause to contract into wrinkles or ridges, as some kinds of cloth after a wetting; to pucker.
  • To wobble, shake; to be unsteady.

Examples

  • The paper board started to cockle from all the intense Words With Friends gameplay.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English cokel, cokkel, kokkel, cocle, of uncertain origin. Perhaps a diminutive of Middle English cokke, cok (“cockle”), from Old English cocc (found in sǣcocc (“cockle”)) + -le; or perhaps from Old French coquille, from Vulgar Latin *cocchilia, from conchylia, from Ancient Greek κογχύλιον (konkhúlion), diminutive of κογχύλη (konkhúlē, “mussel”), of Pre-Greek substrate origin.

Synonyms

crumple, knit, pucker, riffle, ripple, ruffle, rumple, undulate, darnel, false wheat

Scrabble Score: 14

cockle: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
cockle: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
cockle: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 17

cockle: valid Words With Friends Word