wentletrap

[ wen-tl-trap ]

noun

1. any of several marine gastropods of the family Epitonii (Scalariidae), having a whitish, spiraled shell.

wentletrap

/ ˈwɛntəlˌtræp /

noun

1. any marine gastropod mollusc of the family Epitoniidae, having a long pointed pale-coloured longitudinally ridged shell

Word History and Origins

Origin of wentletrap¹

1750–60; < Dutch wenteltrap, earlier wendeltrap spiral staircase, equivalent to wend ( en ) to turn + frequentative -el- (compare wentelen to revolve) + trap trap ¹ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of wentletrap¹

C18: from Dutch winteltrap spiral shell, from wintel, earlier windel, from wenden to wind + trap a step, stairs

Example Sentences

Painters depicted shells, with names as wonderful as “precious wentletrap” and “speckled episcopal miter,” arrayed on banquet tables or in the hands of exulting deities.

From New York Times

Churchill and colleagues suspect the snails' evolution may have gone like this: From time to time, bottom-dwelling wentletrap ancestors accidentally trapped small bubbles in their egg nets, and then floated to the surface until those bubbles popped.

From Science Magazine

Because those high waters abounded in edible jellyfish, some wentletrap ancestors began to capitalize on making more bubbles, eventually floating exclusively.

From Science Magazine

It was a Wentletrap on which the little red eyes of Mr. Endymion Scraper were fixed at this moment.

From Project Gutenberg

Has any of my readers seen a Precious Wentletrap?

From Project Gutenberg