Definition of "whelk" []

• Any of various large, mostly edible marine snails of the family Buccinidae, having a pointed, spiral shell, especially Buccinum undatum, which is commonly eaten in Europe. (noun)
• An inflamed swelling, such as a pimple or pustule. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Algal turfs are grown on screens and then fed to herbivores such as whelk, parrotfish, and crab."
• "Black drink was ladled, and we each accepted the shell cup—cut from a huge whelk—and drank."
• ""The Big Question to emerge so far: Is Rupert Murdoch a fit and proper person to run a whelk stall?" the conservative political commentator Iain Dale wrote in a Twitter post."