CONCH-SHELL
\kˈɒnt͡ʃʃˈɛl], \kˈɒntʃʃˈɛl], \k_ˈɒ_n_tʃ_ʃ_ˈɛ_l]\
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[L.] (Zool.) Sea-trumpet (Triton variegatus); twelve inches or more long; white, mottled with brown and yellow; inside, white, streaked with black. Used as trumpet by South Sea Islanders and Australians, who bore a hole about one-fourth the distance from the tip, and blow it as a flute. Warm seas. Fam. Muricidae, ord. Prosobranchiata, class Gasteropoda.
By Henry Percy Smith
Word of the day
Snake's-head
- Guinea-hen flower; -- so called in England because its spotted petals resemble the scales of a snake's head.