Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language is regarded by many as the finest English
dictionary ever published. The dictionary is available in many forms. I made the content available here for my own purposes,
out of personal admiration for this particular dictionary.
WHELK, n. 1. A wrinkle; inequality on the surface; protuberance; a pustule. [See Welk and Weal.] 2. A shell of the genus Bussinum, or trumpetshell, univalvular, spiral and gibbous, with an oval aperture ending in a short canal or gutter.