: any of several weedy plants of the pink family
especially
: corn cockle
1
: any of various chiefly marine bivalve mollusks (family Cardiidae) having a shell with convex radially ribbed valves
especially
: a common edible European bivalve (Cerastoderma edule synonym Cardium edule)
2
Examples of cockle in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 25 July 2024
Guests have requested the hotel kitchen cook a whole fish that the guest has brought with them (our very own Megan Spurrell admits to doing this in a hotel restaurant, but not via room service—yet), as well as cockle popcorn.
—Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 June 2023
Cars are the same way, but some generate an unreasonably strong response deep in the cockles of the enthusiast heart.
—Erin Marquis / Jalopnik, Quartz, 28 Apr. 2024
But the bigger number warms the cockles of my heart all the same.
—Jon Porter, The Verge, 3 Jan. 2024
Meta implementing a new technology, especially one as thorny as generative AI, doesn’t exactly warm the cockles.
—WIRED, 5 Aug. 2023
Angel wings, whelks, slipper shells, arks, pen shells, cockles, jingles, coquinas, augers, and olive shells are among the most common found in local waters and on the beach.
—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 20 June 2023
That means Lone Star State residents have plenty of prime shell-hunting territory, particularly on Little Shell and Big Shell beaches, where cockles, quahogs, and coquinas can be found.
—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 20 June 2023
Lobster cockle comes with mezcal chili butter, carrots, fine herbs and brioche.
—Alyson Sheppard, Robb Report, 7 Mar. 2022
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Noun
The cockles of whose heart were most likely to be warmed by such a speech?
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 25 July 2024
Guests have requested the hotel kitchen cook a whole fish that the guest has brought with them (our very own Megan Spurrell admits to doing this in a hotel restaurant, but not via room service—yet), as well as cockle popcorn.
—Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 June 2023
Cars are the same way, but some generate an unreasonably strong response deep in the cockles of the enthusiast heart.
—Erin Marquis / Jalopnik, Quartz, 28 Apr. 2024
But the bigger number warms the cockles of my heart all the same.
—Jon Porter, The Verge, 3 Jan. 2024
Meta implementing a new technology, especially one as thorny as generative AI, doesn’t exactly warm the cockles.
—WIRED, 5 Aug. 2023
Angel wings, whelks, slipper shells, arks, pen shells, cockles, jingles, coquinas, augers, and olive shells are among the most common found in local waters and on the beach.
—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 20 June 2023
That means Lone Star State residents have plenty of prime shell-hunting territory, particularly on Little Shell and Big Shell beaches, where cockles, quahogs, and coquinas can be found.
—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 20 June 2023
Lobster cockle comes with mezcal chili butter, carrots, fine herbs and brioche.
—Alyson Sheppard, Robb Report, 7 Mar. 2022
Dictionary Entries Near cockle
Cite this Entry
“Cockle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cockle. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cockle
1 of 2 noun
cock·le
ˈkäk-əl 
: any of several weeds of grain fields
cockle
2 of 2 noun1
: an edible mollusk with a ribbed two-valved shell
2
Etymology
Noun
Old English coccel "weed"
Noun
Middle English cokille "cockle, cockleshell," from early French coquille "shell," from Latin conchylia "shells," derived from Greek konchylion, literally, "little shell"
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