Word Study
whelk
CIDE DICTIONARY
Any one numerous species of large marine gastropods belonging to Buccinum and allied genera; especially, Buccinum undatum , common on the coasts both of Europe and North America, and much used as food in Europe. [1913 Webster]
whelk, n. [OE. whelke, dim. of whele. See Wheal a pustule.].
- A papule; a pustule; acne. Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- A stripe or mark; a ridge; a wale. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
whelk, n. any predatory marine gastropod mollusc of the family Buccinidae, esp. the edible kind of the genus Baccinum, having a spiral shell.
whelk, n. a pimple.
Etymology
OE hwylca f. hwelian suppurate
THESAURUS
whelk
Dungeness crab, Japanese crab, abscess, aposteme, bed sore, blain, bleb, blister, blue point, boil, bubo, bulla, bunion, canker, canker sore, carbuncle, chancre, chancroid, chilblain, clam, cold sore, coquillage, crab, crawdad, crawfish, crayfish, eschar, felon, fester, festering, fever blister, fistula, furuncle, furunculus, gathering, gumboil, hemorrhoids, kibe, langouste, lesion, limpet, littleneck clam, lobster, mussel, oyster, papula, papule, paronychia, parulis, periwinkle, petechia, piles, pimple, pock, polyp, prawn, pustule, quahog, rising, scab, scallop, shellfish, shrimp, snail, soft chancre, soft-shell crab, sore, steamer, stigma, sty, suppuration, swelling, tubercle, ulcer, ulceration, wale, weal, welt, wheal, whelp, whitlow, woundROGET THESAURUS
whelk
Blemish
N blemish, disfigurement, deformity, adactylism, flaw, defect, injury, spots on the sun, eyesore, stain, blot, spot, spottiness, speck, speckle, blur, tarnish, smudge, dirt, freckle, mole, macula, patch, blotch, birthmark, blobber lip, blubber lip, blain, maculation, scar, wem, pustule, whelk, excrescence, pimple, pitted, freckled, discolored, imperfect, blobber-lipped, bloodshot, injured.For further exploring for "whelk" in Webster Dictionary Online