cowry

Other forms: cowries

Definitions of cowry

1. noun

   any of numerous tropical marine gastropods of the genus Cypraea having highly polished usually brightly marked shells
   synonyms: cowrie

   types:

   Cypraea moneta, money cowrie

   cowrie whose shell is used for money in parts of the southern Pacific and in parts of Africa

   Cypraea tigris, tiger cowrie

   cowrie whose shell is used for ornament

   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