cowrie, cowry
(noun) any of numerous tropical marine gastropods of the genus Cypraea having highly polished usually brightly marked shells
Source: WordNet® 3.1
cowry (plural cowries)
Alternative spelling of cowrie
Source: Wiktionary
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
3 April 2025
(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
