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Glite Dictionary
🐚 A sea shell ⛵ A small boat
cockleshell

cockleshell

9.9
A very small light boat that cannot go in rough water
  • noun
  • /ˈkɑkəlˌʃɛl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : barco de papel
  • After the storm, they found only a battered cockleshell among the debris on the shore.

Examples

  • Her cockleshell swayed gently in the harbor, seeming too delicate for the rough seas ahead.

  • A small cockleshell boat; a slim young woman in a white dress and a straw sunhat bent at the oars.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Perched in the stern of the cockleshell boat, Crane said, "I thought Gabriel was a man's name."

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The sailors struggled to keep the small cockleshell steady against the strong waves.

Synonyms

shell
vscockleshell
  • Jargon
25 7.2

A long narrow boat used for racing in rowing

is a small fragile craft viewed as unable to survive rough conditions
batel
vscockleshell
  • Archaic
9.9

A small wooden boat for rowing or fishing

is light and fragile, seen as unable to withstand rough conditions

Surface Forms

cockleshell singular
cockleshells plural

Morphology

cockleshell = cockle + shell (semi-transparent) = cockle + shell

Formally a clear compound of 'cockle' + 'shell', but the sense 'small fragile boat' is a metaphorical extension not directly predictable by learners.

Etymology

Cockleshell compares a tiny, fragile boat to a small sea shell: the word mixes cockle (a little sea shell) and shell, so a 'cockleshell' boat is imagined as too light and delicate to face rough water.