Whĕlk, n.

noun

(hwĕlk), n. [A.-S. hwylca, varix, hylca, heolca, a bend.]

Sense 1. A wrinkle; an inequality on the surface; a protuberance; a pustule.

Sense 2. A stripe or mark; a streak; a wale.

Sense 3. [Cf. WHILK and WILK.] (Zool.) A mollusk (the Buccinum undatum) having a univalvular, spiral, and gibbous shell, with an oval aperture ending in a short canal or gutter. Whelks are much used for food in England.

An engraved illustration of a large spiral-shelled whelk with its soft body and tentacles extending from the shell. — Whelk (*Buccinum undatum*).