cowrie, cowry
(noun) any of numerous tropical marine gastropods of the genus Cypraea having highly polished usually brightly marked shells
Source: WordNet® 3.1
cowrie (plural cowries)
A small gastropod (Cypraea moneta) common in the Indian Ocean; its shell.
(by extension) Any gastropod of the genus Cypraea; its shell.
(by extension) Any gastropod of the family Cypraeidae; its shell.
• (C. moneta): money cowrie
• (shell of C. moneta): shell money, wampum
• cowier
Source: Wiktionary
Cow"rie (-r), n. (Bot.)
Definition: Same as Kauri.
Cow"rie Cow"ry (kou"r), n.; pl. Cowries (-r. Etym: [Hind. kaur.] (Zoöl.)
Definition: A marine shell of the genus Cypræa.
Note: There are numerous species, many of them ornamental. Formerly C. moneta and several other species were largely used as money in Africa and some other countries, and they are still so used to some extent. The value is always trifling, and varies at different places.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
6 May 2025
(adjective) marked by or paying little heed or attention; “We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics”--Franklin D. Roosevelt; “heedless of danger”; “heedless of the child’s crying”
The world’s most expensive coffee costs more than US$700 per kilogram. Asian palm civet – a cat-like creature in Indonesia, eats fruits, including select coffee cherries. It excretes partially digested seeds that produce a smooth, less acidic brew of coffee called kopi luwak.
