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cockles

 - 5 dictionary results

cock⋅le

1[kok-uhl] noun, verb, -led, -ling.
–noun
1. any bivalve mollusk of the genus Cardium, having somewhat heart-shaped, radially ribbed valves, esp. C. edule, the common edible species of Europe.
2. any of various allied or similar mollusks.
3. cockleshell (defs. 1, 2).
4. a wrinkle; pucker: a cockle in fabric.
5. a small, crisp candy of sugar and flour, bearing a motto.
–verb (used without object)
6. to contract into wrinkles; pucker: This paper cockles easily.
7. to rise in short, irregular waves; ripple: The waves cockled along the shore.
–verb (used with object)
8. to cause to wrinkle, pucker, or ripple: The wind cockled the water.
9. cockles of one's heart, the depths of one's emotions or feelings: The happy family scene warmed the cockles of his heart.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME cokille < MF coqille < VL *cocchīlia, L conchylia, pl. of conchȳlium < Gk konchȳ́lion, equiv. to konchȳ́l(ē) mussel + -ion dim. suffix; cf. OE -cocc, in sǣ-cocc lit., sea-cockle < VL *coccus for L concha conch

cock⋅le

2[kok-uhl]
–noun
a weed, as the darnel Lolium temulentum, or rye grass, L. perenne.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE coccel
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cock·le 1   (kŏk'əl)   
n.  
  1. Any of various bivalve mollusks of the family Cardiidae, having rounded or heart-shaped shells with radiating ribs.

  2. The shell of a cockle.

  3. A wrinkle; a pucker.

  4. Nautical A cockleshell.

intr. & tr.v.   cock·led, cock·ling, cock·les
To become or cause to become wrinkled or puckered.

[Middle English cokel, from Old French coquille, shell, from Vulgar Latin *cochillia, from Latin conchyllium, from Greek konkhulion, diminutive of konkhē, mussel.]
cock·le 2   (kŏk'əl)   
n.  Any of several weedy plants, especially the corn cockle.

[Middle English cokkel, from Old English coccel, from Medieval Latin *cocculus, diminutive of Latin coccus, kermes berry, from Greek kokkos.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

cockle 
1311, "mollusk," from O.Fr. coquille "a blister, shell, cockle," alt. by infl. of cock, from L. conchylium, from Gk. konkhylion "little shellfish," from konkhe "mussel, conch." Phrase cockles of the heart (1669) is perhaps from similar shape, or from L. corculum, dim. of cor "heart." Unrelated O.E. coccel was the name of a flowering weed that grows in wheatfields and was used in M.E. to translate the Bible word now usually given as tares. It is in no other Gmc. language and may be from a dim. of L. coccus "grain, berry."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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