cowrie : Idioms & Phrases

Index

cowrie cowry

Cow"rie Cow"ry noun
Etymology
Hind. kaur.
Wordforms
plural Cowries
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) A marine shell of the genus Cypræa. ✍ There are numerous species, many of them ornamental. Formerly C. moneta and several other species were largely used as money in Africa and some other countries, and they are still so used to some extent. The value is always trifling, and varies at different places.
Webster 1913

Money cowrie

  • noun cowrie whose shell is used for money in parts of the southern Pacific and in parts of Africa
    Cypraea moneta.
WordNet
  • (Zoöl.), any one of several species of Cypræa (esp. C. moneta) formerly much used as money by savage tribes. See Cowrie.
Webster 1913

tiger cowrie

  • noun cowrie whose shell is used for ornament
    Cypraea tigris.
WordNet

Turtle cowrie

  • (Zoöl.), a large, handsome cowrie (Cypræa testudinaria); the turtle-shell; so called because of its fancied resemblance to a tortoise in color and form.
Webster 1913