▪ I. whelk1
(hwɛlk)
Forms: α. 1 wioloc, wiloc, wyloc, (2 wilque), 4–5 wylke, 4–8 wilke, 5–9 wilk. β. 7–9 whilk. γ. 1 weoloc, -uc, (2 welche), 2–7 welke, 4–7 welk, 6 wealk. δ. 5–6 whelke, 7– whelk. ε. 5 wolke, 5–6 walke.
[OE. wioloc, weoloc = WFlem. willok, wullok (whence OF. willo): of obscure origin. The unetymological spelling with wh begins in the 15th cent.]
a. A marine gastropod mollusc of the genus Buccinum, having a turbinate shell, esp. B. undatum, common on the European and North American coasts, much used for food.
Also applied, esp. with qualifying word, to molluscs of allied genera, as the hairy or ribbon whelks of the genera Fulgur and Sycotypus, the red whelk (Chrysodomus antiquus), the rough whelk (Urosalpinx cinerea), the dog-whelk of the genus Nassa; see also quots.
| α c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) C 865 Coccum, wioloc. c 875 Erfurt Gloss. 267 Coc[h]leas, uuylocas. 1312–13 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 10 In lempetis, Wylkes. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 642/6 Hec tortuga, wylke. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxii. 24 At your hie Croce,..thair is bot crudis and milk; And at ȝour Trone bot cokill and wilk. 1565 Googe tr. Palingenius' Zodiac vii. A a j, Scallops of the baye, And Wilks, & Irchin eke. 1624 Capt. J. Smith Virginia v. 180 One..hid himselfe in the Woods, and liued onely on Wilkes and land Crabs. 1782 P. H. Bruce Mem. xii. 424 Their shell-fish are conques, perriwinkles, coneys, sogers, wilkes, etc. 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz, Greenwich Fair, Divers specimens of a species of snail (wilks, we think they are called). 1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk III. 232 Searching for..wilks, periwinkles, and other shellfish. |
| β 1668 Charleton Onomast. 182 Cochleæ, Sea-Snails, Whilks, or Porwinkles, & Periwinkles. 1713 Tyldesley Diary (1873) 79 Cos Tom Carus and his lady sup{supd} with us on whilkes in the shell. 1773 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 30 Sept., Muscles and whilks in their natural state. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, Whilk or Whelk. |
| γ c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. i. (1890) 26 Her beoð swyþe ᵹenihtsume weolocas, of þam bið ᵹeweorht se weolocreada tælgh. c 1050 in Wr.-Wülcker 293/25 Coclea, weoluc. c 1170 Marie de France Fables xii. 3 Une welke [v. rr. welche, wilque] truva entiere. 1290 in Archaeologia XV. 352 Pro ij lampred' iijs pro welkes vi{supd}. 13.. Liber Albus (Rolls) I. 244 Oysters, welkes, muskeles ou soel. 1339 Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 23/1 De anguillis, ostriis, conchiris, welkes, floundris et aliis quibuscunque minutis piscibus venalibus. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 17 Take welkes and wasshe fayre. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 237 The shelles of certeyne great welkes. 1606 N. B[axter] Sydney's Ourania D 1 b, There growen the Scallop, Cockle, Welke, and Oyster. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. v. §7. 129. |
| δ 14.. Metr. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 625 Whelke, concha. 1583 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 361 For mendinge of iiij whelkes shelles and Couloringe them. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. 164 Perwinckles or Whelks, are nothing but sea-snails, feeding upon the finest mud of the shore and the best weeds. c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. viii. 77 Limington Bottle Whelk. 1815 S. Brookes Conchol. 202 Strombus Lucifer, Spiked Whelk. 1862 Macm. Mag. Oct. 503 The whelks, clams,..and occasionally the crabs, are used by the fishermen as bait for their white fish lines. 1874 A. H. Markham Whaling Cruise ii. 19 By way of supper I was initiated into the mysteries of ‘whelks’. |
| ε c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 23 Take Walkys an sethe in Ale. 1444 Maldon, Essex Crt.-rolls Bundle 26 No. 1 b (MS.) Vendidit in mercato pisces fetentes, viz. wolkis. 1589 Rider Bibl. Schol. i. 1724 A walke, or wrinkle, turbo. |
† b. The shell of this mollusc, or a representation of it.
Obs.| 1575 Laneham Let. (1907) 52 Tunneyz, Conchs, & wealks: all engrauen by exquisit deuize and skill. 1605 B. Jonson Masques, Of Blacknesse Wks. (1616) 894 Torch-bearers..all hauing their lights burning out of whelks, or murex shells. |
† c. A structure resembling a whelk-shell; a testudo.
Obs.| 1408–9 tr. Vegetius' De Re Milit. iv. xiv. (Roy MS. 18 A. xii) lf. 105 The gynne that is clepede the snayle or the welke. |
d. attrib. and
Comb., as
whelk-boat,
whelk-man,
whelk-pot (
pot n.1 5 b),
whelk-shell,
whelk-snail,
whelk-tribe;
whelk-like,
whelk-shaped adjs.;
whelk-stall, a stall at which whelks are sold;
freq. in
phr. to be unable to run a whelk stall and
varr., to be incompetent,
esp. in business;
whelk-tingle,
= tingle n.3| 1419 Liber Albus (Rolls) I. 343 Item, quantum dabit *welkbot de v tandles. 1900 Daily News 17 Aug. 7/1 Two fishermen went off in a whelk boat. |
| 1861 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1860, 180 A *whelk-like dentition. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 163/2 The *whelkmen, who are the biggest rogues in Billingsgate. |
| 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 10 Set of *Whelk Pots with Gear. |
| 1861 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1860, 185 One group..in which the shell is thin and *whelk-shaped. |
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) C 530 Conquilium, *wiloc scel. c 1440 Astron. Cal. (MS. Ashm. 391), Capricorne þat is þe signe of a goot in a welke shelle. 1681 Grew Musæum i. vi. i. 131 'Tis usual to give Drink to Children that have the Chin-Cough, out of a Wilk-shell. 1891 Science-Gossip XXVII. 71 The hermit crab..which always lives in empty whelk shells. |
| 1681 Grew Musæum i. vi. i. 131 The *Wilk-Snail winding, from the Mouth towards the right Hand. |
| 1842 Punch III. 74/2 The adjacent *whelk-stall. 1894 J. Burns in South-Western Star 13 Jan. 3/4 From whom am I to take my marching orders? From men who fancy they are Admirable Crichtons,..but who have not got sufficient brains and ability to run a whelk stall? 1928 ‘N. Shute’ So Disdained iv. 159 If you try to run him as a manager as well, then your luck'll be out... He couldn't run a whelk stall to make it pay. 1960 C. Storr Marianne & Mark iii. 42 The beaches and the whelk stalls. 1965 O. Manning Friends & Heroes xiv. 148, I said we were all disgusted at the way the School had gone down; and I said things would be no better under Callard. I said Callard couldn't run a whelk-stall. 1966 Hansard Commons 22 Nov. 1283 The great majority of hon. Gentlemen opposite have not the qualifications to run a whelk stall profitably. 1980 M. Drabble Middle Ground 25 Which should she pick?..vain Albert from the whelk stall? 1981 Financial Times 1 Apr. 15/2 None of them [sc. the 364 economists] has had enough practical experience to run the proverbial whelk stall. |
| 1882 Standard 26 Sept. 2/2 The dog-whelk or ‘*whelk tingle’. 1959 Times 25 Aug. 5/6 A survey of the damage done on English oyster beds by the American whelk tingle..has just been concluded. |
| 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. I. ix. 279 The Buccinidan or *Whelk tribe. |
▪ II. whelk2 (
hwɛlk)
Forms: 1
hwylca, 4–7
whelke, 5
qwælke, 5–6
welke, 6
whealke, 8–9
welk, 9
dial. w(h)ilk, 5–
whelk.
[Late OE. (WS.) hwylca, prob. for *hwelca (cf. late hwylp for hwelp), f. hwelian wheal v.1 For the formation cf. swelca swelling, f. swellan to swell.] 1. A pustule, pimple;
= wheal n.1| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 161/17 Uarix, cwydele, uel hwylca. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 632 Ne oynement that wolde clense and byte, That hym myghte helpen of the whelkes white. 1388 Wyclif Lev. xiv. 56 This is the lawe of al lepre..and of litle whelkis [1382 bleynes; Vulg. papularum] brekynge out. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. lxiv. (1495) s j b/2 In the face ben redde pymples & whelkes, out of whom ofte renne blood & matere. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 241 Obtolmia is clepid a whit' welke or a reed poynt'. 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 116 Whelkes or bladders on the body. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vi. 108 His face is all bubukles and whelkes, and knobs, and flames a fire. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 198 If the patient sick of the Collick have certaine small whelks or pushes arising upon his belly. 1632 tr. Bruel's Praxis Med. 398 Purple colour spots, or else little whelks arise. 1865 R. Hunt Pop. Rom. W. Eng. Ser. ii. 240 Those little gatherings which occur on the eye-lids of children, locally called ‘wilks’. |
| Comb. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 72/2 Mordella,..a whelke flie, or blister flie. |
2. Used by confusion for
weal n.2,
wale n.1| a 1761 Cawthorn Poems, Wit & Learn. (1771) 153 I'll lay thee, miscreant! on my knee, And print such welks thy naked seat on. 1791 Cowper Iliad xxiii. 894 And on their flanks and shoulders, red The whelks arose. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Welk, welt..to give a sound beating, which is likely to raise weals, welks, or welts. 1870 Bryant Homer I. ii. 47 A bloody whelk Rose where the golden sceptre fell. |