cow·rie

or cow·ry (kou′rē)

n. pl. cow·ries

Any of various marine gastropods of the family Cypraeidae of tropical and subtropical seas, having glossy, often colorfully patterned shells, some of which were formerly used as currency in parts of the South Pacific and Africa.

[Hindi kauṛī, from Sanskrit kapardikā, diminutive of kapardaḥ, shell, of Dravidian origin.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

cowry - any of numerous tropical marine gastropods of the genus Cypraea having highly polished usually brightly marked shells

cowrie

gastropod, univalve - a class of mollusks typically having a one-piece coiled shell and flattened muscular foot with a head bearing stalked eyes

Cypraea, genus Cypraea - type genus of the family Cypraeidae: the typical cowries

Cypraea moneta, money cowrie - cowrie whose shell is used for money in parts of the southern Pacific and in parts of Africa

Cypraea tigris, tiger cowrie - cowrie whose shell is used for ornament

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References in periodicals archive

Yes, during those days, if someone thiefs your half cowry and you catch him and you send him to the thief slappers stationary office, just say he thiefed your half cowry.

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Looking into the new week, analysts at Cowry Asset, expect the local equities market to close marginally in green territory as the euphoria of the listing of the telecoms giant is likely to be sustained.

Equities Market Close Week With Marginal Gain Of 0.08%

If you look carefully, you will notice that this raised boss shows the impression of a large cowry shell that must originally have been inserted into it.

Figures that helped remember the dead

Pepper corns, cowry shells used in the slave trade and bronze artillery pieces litter the wreck site.

400-year-old shipwreck found; WORLD BULLETINS

Chinese porcelain from the late 16th and early 17th centuries was also among the wreck, as were bronze artillery pieces and cowry shells - a currency used in the slave trade.

Portuguese 400 year old shipwreck found off Cascais

In and around the shipwreck, 40 feet (12 metres) below the surface, divers found spices, nine bronze cannons engraved with the Portuguese coat of arms, Chinese ceramics and cowry shells, a type of currency used to trade slaves during the colonial era.

400-year-old shipwreck 'discovery of decade' for Portugal

It comprised cowry shells and some items that are associated with witchcraft.

Scare after workers find sorcery items in Elgeyo executive's office

The girls wear intricate dresses made of cowry shells, coins and beads with beautiful hair braiding and headwear.

Four-day Kalash Spring Festival to start from May 12

This research aims to construct the taxonomic character of gold ring cowry, C.

Phenetic Relationship Study of Gold Ring Cowry, Cypraea Annulus (Gastropods: Cypraeidae) in Mollucas Islands Based on Shell Morphological

as Shango's shout my straw mat is strewn with guavas purple cowry

I Name Gyal

What he means by 'a purely businesslike deal' is in some ways the exact inverse of Western values and traditions: the Me 'subjectify' their exchanged object, a single cowry, and objectify themselves.

Sibbele Hylkema: Cowries among the Me or Ekagi. The Impact of a New Currency on a Group of Central Highlanders in Papua, Indonesia