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

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

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

Since the days when cockleshell Phoenician galleys first began to crisscross the Mediterranean, men have made fortunes trading abroad.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

His canoe was a mere cockleshell, out here in the ocean waste; but, then, the seas were placid, and, beyond a ripple, only too smooth.

From The Red Derelict by Mitford, Bertram