Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A scallop, or the shell or valve of one. The scallop-shell was the badge of a pilgrim. Compare cockle-shell.
  • noun A British geometrid moth, Eucosmia undulata.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • First you sense that the curved building-forms echo the scallop-shell symbol of St. James Santiago and the city.

    A Gleaming Vision on the Hill Colin Amery 2011

  • First you sense that the curved building-forms echo the scallop-shell symbol of St. James Santiago and the city.

    A Gleaming Vision on the Hill Colin Amery 2011

  • First you sense that the curved building-forms echo the scallop-shell symbol of St. James Santiago and the city.

    A Gleaming Vision on the Hill Colin Amery 2011

  • Then sometimes you want to whisper it, like this: “Give me my scallop-shell of quiet.”

    THE ANTHOLOGIST Nicholson Baker 2009

  • Then sometimes you want to whisper it, like this: “Give me my scallop-shell of quiet.”

    THE ANTHOLOGIST Nicholson Baker 2009

  • It's in an art deco style, with silver and black scallop-shell booths upholstered in a reptile print fabric.

    Fargo, North Dakota 2008

  • Inside was the lead coffin, decorated with scallop-shell designs.

    Rare Roman Grave Found in London 1999

  • She was sitting at a little table outside one of the innumerable cafés that edge the sloping scallop-shell of the campo.

    Tour de Force Brand, Christianna, 1907- 1955

  • The signs of the pilgrim -- the staff, the wallet, and the scallop-shell -- were blessed by priest or bishop before departure, and took on added sanctity, and even miracle-working power, if they had reached actual use in the Holy Land.

    Peter the Hermit A Tale of Enthusiasm Daniel A. Goodsell

  • As Holy Week approaches, pilgrims begin to flock to Rome with their oil-cloth capes, their scallop-shell, their long staffs, their rosaries, and their dirty hands held out constantly for "_una santa elemosina pel povero pellegrino_."

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 24, October, 1859 Various

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