Whelker

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fisherman who makes his living by catching whelks along the coast ; a small vessel fitted out for hauling in those sea snails
2. Someone who gathers marine sea snails called whelks for a living ; a fishing craft designed to pot and trawl for these shellfish
3. The person who works the pots for whelks at sea ; the type of boat equipped for collecting the snails from the seabed

Etymology: A whelker is simply someone who fishes for whelks, the small sea snails prized as bait and food along European coasts. The term is formed from "whelk" with the agent suffix "-er," the same ending found in "baker" or "miner," so it names the person whose work is catching that particular creature. The base word "whelk" is older and more interesting. It comes from Old English "wioloc," which is related to the Old English word for the animal's spiral shell, and the sound has changed considerably since then. The shell's coiled shape is the feature that gave the creature its name, so every whelker is, in effect, a person whose trade is defined by a spiral.