| 释义 |
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024cow•rie or cow•ry/ˈkaʊri/USA pronunciation n. [countable], pl. -ries. - Invertebratesa shellfish of the sea having a glossy oval shell with a narrow, toothed opening.
- Invertebratesthe shell of this shellfish, sometimes used as currency in Asia and Africa.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024cow•rie (kou′rē),USA pronunciation n. - Invertebratesthe highly polished, usually brightly colored shell of a marine gastropod of the genus Cypraea, as that of C. moneta (money cowrie,) used as money in certain parts of Asia and Africa, or that of C. tigris, used for ornament.
- Invertebratesthe gastropod itself.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: cowrie, cowry /ˈkaʊrɪ/ n ( pl -ries)- any marine gastropod mollusc of the mostly tropical family Cypraeidae, having a glossy brightly marked shell with an elongated opening
- the shell of any of these molluscs, esp the shell of Cypraea moneta (money cowry), used as money in parts of Africa and S Asia
Etymology: 17th Century: from Hindi kaurī, from Sanskrit kaparda, of Dravidian origin; related to Tamil kōtu shell |