noun
periwinkle
A small edible sea snail.
A periwinkle clings to a rock as the tide rises.
Etymology
The sea-snail name developed from an older English name for a shellfish. Its deeper components are uncertain and should not be conflated with the flower’s Latin ancestry.
More examples
- We gather periwinkles from the rocks at low tide.
- The cook boils the periwinkles in salted water.
- The periwinkle retreats into its spiral shell.
Forms
periwinkle · periwinkles
Similar words
- snail
- Includes land and freshwater species, not just edible marine snails.