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whelk

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whelk¹

  • /wɛlk/
  • /hwɛlk
  • ʍɛlk/

Rhymes with -ɛlk

Where it comes from

From Middle English whelke, a variant of welk, from Old English weoloc, wiloc, wioloc, weluc, from Proto-West Germanic *weluk (compare Middle Dutch willoc, Dutch wulk), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, revolve”) (whence vulva and volute). Unetymological spelling with wh- from the 15th century.

noun whelks · welk · whilk · wilk

  1. Certain edible sea snails, especially, any one of numerous species of large marine gastropods belonging to Buccinidae, much used as food in Europe.

    Similar: sea cornet, scungilli

whelk²

  • /wɛlk/
  • /hwɛlk
  • ʍɛlk/

Rhymes with -ɛlk

Where it comes from

From Middle English whelke, from Old English hwelca (“pustule, swelling”).

noun whelks · welk · whilk · wilk

  1. archaic Pimple. his face is all bubukles , and whelks , and knobs
  2. A stripe or mark; a ridge; a wale.

Translations

Every language

noun edible sea snail of the family Buccinidae

Españolbuccino
日本語エゾバイ ezobai, ツブ tsubu
中文峨螺 éluó
Portuguêsbúzio
Françaisbuccin, bulot
DeutschWellhornschnecke
Ελληνικάφουσκαλίδα fouskalída
Русскийтруборо́г truboróg, труба́ч trubáč
Tiếng Việtốc bulot

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MLA

"whelk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/whelk. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

whelk. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/whelk

Chicago

"whelk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/whelk.

BibTeX
@misc{whelk_2026,
  title = {whelk},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/whelk},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}