cockle shells
Tiny ribbed shells
Cockle shells are the ribbed, heart-shaped shells of cockles—small edible bivalve mollusks.
The phrase is familiar from the nursery rhyme "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary": with silver bells and cockle shells.
Cockle shells have decorative ridges radiating from the hinge, making them recognizable beach finds.
A single shell is a cockle shell; the plural appears more often.
- seashellsEmpty mollusk exoskeletons
- beachSandy waterside margin
- sandy beachGranular coastal shoreline
- sandFine rock particles
- musselsEdible marine bivalves
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