SHELL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Shell

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/ʃɛl/ Listen

Shell

noun

1.

Ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun.

2.

The material that forms the hard outer covering of many animals.

3.

Hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles. Synonyms: carapace, cuticle, shield.

4.

The hard usually fibrous outer layer of some fruits especially nuts.

5.

The exterior covering of a bird's egg. Synonym: eggshell.

6.

A rigid covering that envelops an object.

7.

A very light narrow racing boat. Synonym: racing shell.

8.

The housing or outer covering of something. Synonyms: case, casing.

9.

A metal sheathing of uniform thickness (such as the shield attached to an artillery piece to protect the gunners). Synonyms: plate, scale.

10.

The hard largely calcareous covering of a mollusc or a brachiopod.

verb

(past & past part. shelled; pres. part. shelling)

1.

Use explosives on. Synonym: blast.

2.

Create by using explosives. Synonym: blast.

3.

Fall out of the pod or husk.

4.

Hit the pitches of hard and regularly.

5.

Look for and collect shells by the seashore.

6.

Come out better in a competition, race, or conflict. Synonyms: beat, beat out, crush, trounce, vanquish. "We beat the competition" , "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game"

7.

Remove from its shell or outer covering. "Shell mussels"

8.

Remove the husks from. Synonym: husk.

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Related searches:

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hard-shell clam

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soft-shell clam

soft-shell crab

WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Shell" Quotes from Famous Books

... she said, coolly, and traced it delicately along his palm with a sea-shell tinted finger. Like cool delicious fire it spread from nerve to nerve and set aside his reason in a frenzy. He would seize the berry and feel its stain upon his lips ...

— The Witness • Grace Livingston Hill Lutz

... entered the kitchen, which communicated, and presently came upon a square room filled with smoke from a fire of green pine logs. The doors and windows were tightly fastened; the only air came in through the large-throated chimney in voluminous gusts, which seemed to make the hollow shell of the apartment swell and expand to the point of bursting. Despite the stinging of the resinous smoke, the temperature was grateful to the benumbed travellers. Several cushionless arm-chairs, such as were used in bar-rooms, two tables, a sideboard, ...

— Snow-Bound at Eagle's • Bret Harte

... generally are scattered species of Gasteracantha, remarkable for their firm shell-covered bodies, with projecting knobs arranged in pairs. In habit these anomalous-looking Epeirdae appear to differ in no respect from the rest of the family, waylaying their prey in similar situations and ...

— Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon • J. Emerson Tennent

... with a long handle of tortoise-shell. Through it she treated Dicky to a deliberate and disconcerting scrutiny, and lowered it to ...

— Lady Good-for-Nothing • A. T. Quiller-Couch

... with as high a reward for him; they advertised him after this manner: "Charles L. Hobson, twenty-two years of age, six feet high, with a slouched hat on, mixed coat, black pants, with a goatee, is stopping at the Tremont Hotel," &c., &c. This was as a bomb-shell to Mr. Hobson, and he immediately took the hint, and with his trunks steered for the sunny South. In a day or two afterwards Henry deemed it advisable to visit Canada. After arriving there he wrote back to his ...

— The Underground Railroad • William Still

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