conch

/kɑntʃ/

/kɒŋk/

Other forms: conches; conchs

A conch is a sea creature that has a distinctive, spiral-shaped shell. If you visit the Bahamas, you might see a conch on the beach or find it on a restaurant menu.

The large, brightly colored spiral shells people buy at gift shops in beach towns are conch shells. In many parts of the world, conch meat, both raw and cooked, is a seafood delicacy that shows up in salads, soups, and fritters. You can also use a conch shell as a musical instrument by blowing into one end of it. The word conch comes from the Latin concha, "shellfish," from a Greek root, konkhē, "mussel or cockle."

Definitions of conch

1. noun

   any of various edible tropical marine gastropods of the genus Strombus having a brightly-colored spiral shell with large outer lip
   types:

   Strombus gigas, giant conch

   a large variety of conch

   type of:

   gastropod, univalve

   a class of mollusks typically having a one-piece coiled shell and flattened muscular foot with a head bearing stalked eyes