Noun (2)
unsightly whelks covered the beggar's face
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The menu is full of seaside favorites, including generous platters and seafood towers overflowing with langoustines, whelks, prawns, oysters, and lobsters.—Jade Simon, Vogue, 21 June 2024 Local specimens include lightning whelks and angel wings from the bay and lions-paw scallops and alphabet cones from the Gulf.—Robin Soslow, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024 Is there something profound about making a whelk taste, quite pleasingly, like sour-cream-and-onion chips?—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2024 Live channel whelk or conch are for sale at the Newport Lobster Shack on June 30, 2023 in Newport, R.I.Glenn Osmundson
At the Newport Lobster Shack, co-op president Dave Spencer hands a channel whelk, or conch, to manager Eileen Braman for a customer on Friday, June 30, 2023.—Andrea E. McHugh, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2023 Beyond that, sand dollars, conch shells, murex shells, worm-snail shells, Florida spiny jewel boxes, and lightning whelk shells are just a few of the varieties found there.—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 20 June 2023 Once the whelk slipped back into the spiral tunnel of its shell, the shell provides protection similar to a fortress.—Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2013 Yet the whelk's shell (right) is even more amazing.—Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2013
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whelk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
Middle English welke, from Old English weoloc; akin to Middle Dutch willoc whelk and perhaps to Latin volvere to turn — more at voluble
Noun (2)
Middle English whelke, from Old English hwylca, from hwelian to suppurate
First Known Use
Noun (1)
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Noun (2)
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of whelk was
before the 12th century
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