cock·le¹ (kŏk'əl)
n.

1. Any of various bivalve mollusks of the family Cardiidae, having rounded or heart-shaped shells with radiating ribs.
2. The shell of a cockle.
3. A wrinkle; a pucker.
4. Nautical. A cockleshell.

intr. & tr.v., -led, -ling, -les.
To become or cause to become wrinkled or puckered.

idiom:

cockles of (one's) heart

1. One's innermost feelings: The valentine warmed the cockles of my heart.

[Middle English cokel, from Old French coquille, shell, from Vulgar Latin *cochillia, from Latin conchyllium, from Greek konkhulion, diminutive of konkhē, mussel.]

cock·le² (kŏk'əl)
n.
Any of several weedy plants, especially the corn cockle.

[Middle English cokkel, from Old English coccel, from Medieval Latin *cocculus, diminutive of Latin coccus, kermes berry, from Greek kokkos.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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