cockleshell

English

Etymology

cockle +‎ shell

Noun

cockleshell (plural cockleshells)

1. The shell of a cockle (or similar shell).
   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka (republished by Eland, 2019; p. 203):

     The moment land had disappeared, the great canoe seemed no larger than a cockleshell; the waves lapped dangerously near to the tops of the gunwales, all but toppling into the canoe; and that is the curious thing about Polynesian canoes: the water always laps just to the tops of the gunwales, no matter whether the canoe is shallow or deep, whether empty or heavily laden.

2. A small, flimsy boat.