From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcocklecock‧le /ˈkɒkəl $ ˈkɑː-/ noun [countable] 1 HBFa common European shellfish that is used for food2 → warm the cockles of somebody’s heart
Examples from the Corpus
cockle• The 40-strong group started loading bags of cockles, which can fetch up to £12 a time, on to a lorry.• Yesterday, as the group of cockle pickers went about their business, police said there had been no further incidents.• In the Wash oystercatchers are innocent victims of the collapse of the estuary's cockle fishery.• It houses sea snails, cockles, mussels, large fish, squid, cuttlefish, octopuses, shrimps and crabs.Origin cockle (1300-1400) French coquille “shell”, from Latin conchylia, from Greek, from konche; → CONCH