COWRY

cowrie, cowry

(noun) any of numerous tropical marine gastropods of the genus Cypraea having highly polished usually brightly marked shells

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Noun

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



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Word of the Day

23 December 2024

QUANDONG

(noun) Australian tree having hard white timber and glossy green leaves with white flowers followed by one-seeded glossy blue fruit


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Coffee Trivia

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.

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