co•qui•na
(koʊˈki nə)
n., pl. -nas. 1. Also called
butterfly shell. a small clam,
Donax variabilis, having fanlike bands of various hues and common in intertidal zones of the E and S U.S. coasts: the paired empty shells often spread in a butterfly shape.
2. any similar clam.
3. a soft whitish rock made up of fragments of marine shells and coral, used as a building material.
[1830–40,
Amer.; < Sp: literally, shellfish = Old Spanish
coc(a) shellfish (< Latin
concha; see
conch) +
-ina -ine3]
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