shell

plural shells

1. A hard external covering of an animal.
   1. The calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates.

      Genuine mother-of-pearl buttons are made from sea shells.

      2 more examples

      In some mollusks, as the cuttlefish, the shell is concealed by the animal's outer mantle and is considered internal.

      […] if with thee the roaring wells ⁠Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine; ⁠And hands so often clasp’d in mine, Should toss with tangle and with shells.

      1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto X”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC

   2. broadlyAny mollusk having such a covering.
   3. biologyThe exoskeleton or wing covers of certain insects.
   4. The conjoined scutes that constitute the "shell" (carapace) of a tortoise or turtle.
   5. The overlapping hard plates comprising the armor covering the armadillo's body.
2. The hard calcareous covering of a bird egg.
3. One of the outer layers of skin of an onion.

   The restaurant served caramelized onion shells.

4. The hard external covering of various plant seed forms.
   1. biologyThe covering, or outside part, of a nut.

      The black walnut and the hickory nut, both of the same Genus as the pecan, have much thicker and harder shells than the pecan.

   2. biologyA pod containing the seeds of certain plants, such as the legume Phaseolus vulgaris.
   3. in pluralbiologyHusks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is sometimes used as a substitute or adulterant for cocoa and its products such as chocolate.
5. geographyThe accreted mineral formed around a hollow geode.
6. engineeringThe casing of a self-contained single-unit artillery projectile.
7. engineeringA hollow, usually spherical or cylindrical projectile fired from a siege mortar or a smoothbore cannon. It contains an explosive substance designed to be ignited by a fuse or by percussion at the target site so that it will burst and scatter at high velocity its contents and fragments. Formerly called a bomb.
8. engineeringThe cartridge of a breechloading firearm; a load; a bullet; a round.
9. architectureAny slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in, as the shell of a house.
10. A garment, usually worn by women, such as a shirt, blouse, or top, with short sleeves or no sleeves, that often fastens in the rear.
11. A coarse or flimsy coffin; a thin interior coffin enclosed within a more substantial one.

    Upstairs in that chill darkened room which nobody passes who can help it , the old Baronet lies in his coffin shell - an awful form faintly defined beneath the sheet

    1877, Burke O'Farrell, Proud as Lucifer: A Novel

12. An unmarked vehicle for carrying corpses from a crime scene.

    Then they lifted the body into the bag, setting it down like something breakable, zipped the bag, wrapped the whole thing in polythene and carried the stretcher into the shell.

    2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 23

13. entertainmentA string instrument, as a lyre, whose acoustical chamber is formed like a shell.

    The first lyre may have been made by drawing strings over the underside of a tortoise shell.

    1 more example

    when Jubal struck the chorded shell

    1687, John Dryden, A Song for Cecilia's Day

14. entertainmentThe body of a drum; the often wooden, often cylindrical acoustic chamber, with or without rims added for tuning and for attaching the drum head.
15. An engraved copper roller used in print works.
16. The thin coating of copper on an electrotype.
17. nauticalThe watertight outer covering of the hull of a vessel, often made with planking or metal plating.
18. riggingnauticalThe outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve.
19. nauticalA light boat whose frame is covered with thin wood, impermeable fabric, or water-proofed paper; a racing shell or dragon boat.
20. chemistryA set of atomic orbitals that have the same principal quantum number.
21. figurativelyThe outward form independent of what is inside.
22. figurativelyThe empty outward form of someone or something.

    The setback left him a mere shell; he was never the same again.

    1 more example

    Mr. Thomas adds that, by the time it was scrapped, Kingsley was in very bad condition, little more than a shell in fact. In view of the rough usage to which the engine had been subjected, this is not surprising.

    1953 April, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes”, in Railway Magazine, page 283

23. An emaciated person.

    He's lost so much weight from illness; he's a shell of his former self.

24. figurativelyA person otherwise diminished.

    Since coming back from Vietnam, he's been a shell of his former self.

25. A psychological barrier to social interaction.

    Even after months of therapy he's still in his shell.

26. computingAn operating system software user interface, whose primary purpose is to launch other programs and control their interactions; the user's command interpreter. Shell is a way to separate the internal complexity of the implementation of the command from the user. The internals can change while the user experience/interface remains the same.

    The name "Bash" is an acronym which stands for "Bourne-again shell", itself a pun on the name of the "Bourne shell", an earlier Unix shell designed by Stephen Bourne, and the Christian concept of being "born again".

27. businessA legal entity that has no operations.

    A shell corporation was formed to acquire the old factory.

28. A concave rough cast-iron tool in which a convex lens is ground to shape.
29. engineeringA gouge bit or shell bit.
30. human sciencesThe onset and coda of a syllable.
31. UKslangA person's ear.

    Can I have a quick word in your shell?

    Synonyms: shell-like

32. UKeducationOne or more school grades within secondary education, at certain public schools.

    Chinese (Mandarin) is taught at Westminster from the Lower Shell as an optional subject.

    2013, “Chinese (Mandarin)”, in Westminster School, retrieved 04 Dec 2023

33. In formal debating, a set of proposed rules to be followed, with set penalties for violating them.

    a theory shell

    1 more example

    a topicality shell

present singular third person shells · participle present shelling · participle past shelled · past shelled

1. To remove the outer covering or shell of something.
2. To bombard, to fire projectiles at, especially with artillery.

   The guns shelled the enemy trenches.

   1 more example

   There wasn’t even a shed there, and she was shelling the bush.

   1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 203

3. informalTo disburse or give up money, to pay. (Often used with out).
4. intransitiveTo fall off, as a shell, crust, etc.
5. intransitiveTo cast the shell, or exterior covering; to fall out of the pod or husk.

   Nuts shell in falling.

   1 more example

   Wheat or rye shells in reaping.

6. intransitivecomputingTo switch to a shell or command line.

   Automenu is a good program to try, and offers a fair amount of protection - but, unfortunately, it's one of those systems that allow users to shell to DOS.

   1993, Robin Nixon, The PC Companion, page 115

7. To form shallow, irregular cracks (in a coating).
8. mathematicsTo form a shelling.
9. slangtransitiveball gamesTo drop (the ball).

   He shelled it, and dislocated his finger in the process.

   2022, Nicholas Brookes, An Island's Eleven: The Story of Sri Lankan Cricket

1. A surname.

1. A diminutive of the female given names Michelle and Shelly.