weavers' shuttle

English

Weavers' shuttle

Etymology

From its shape.

Noun

weavers' shuttle (plural weavers' shuttles)

1. An East Indian marine univalve shell (Radius volva); shuttle volva.
   • 1861, Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution,, page 195:

     But the most siingular shell belonging to this group is the Waver's Shuttle, (Radius volva,) in which each end of the lip is produced into a very slender canal, longer than the body of the shell itself.

   • 1908, British Museum (Natural History). Department of Zoology, A Guide to the Shell and Starfish Galleries, page 15:

     Of the Ovulidae, the most curious is the "Weaver's-shuttle" ( Radius volva ) , in which the shell is peculiarly beaked at both ends .