cockle

Everyday

1. A small edible shellfish with two ribbed, heart-shaped shells, found in sand on beaches. tree →
2. (idiom) «It warms the cockles of my heart» means it makes me feel happy and loved. tree →
3. A small light boat (also called a cockleshell). tree →

In the lessons

In science and seaside lessons cockles are molluscs that live buried in wet sand. The Irish song «Molly Malone» has «cockles and mussels, alive, alive-o». The heartwarming idiom is used in everyday British, Irish and Australian talk.

Examples

• We found empty cockle shells on the beach. tree →
• Cockles bury themselves in wet sand. tree →
• Molly Malone sold cockles and mussels in Dublin. tree →
• Your kind letter warmed the cockles of my heart. tree →
• People in Wales still gather cockles at low tide. tree →
• The tiny cockle bobbed on the waves. tree →

Note

Countable: one cockle, two cockles. The idiom always uses the plural: «the cockles of your heart». A cockle is a mollusc, an animal without a backbone, like mussels and clams.