SHELL

carapace, shell, cuticle, shield

(noun) hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles

shell

(noun) the hard largely calcareous covering of a mollusc or a brachiopod

plate, scale, shell

(noun) a metal sheathing of uniform thickness (such as the shield attached to an artillery piece to protect the gunners)

shell

(noun) ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun

shell, case, casing

(noun) the housing or outer covering of something; “the clock has a walnut case”

shell, racing shell

(noun) a very light narrow racing boat

shell

(noun) a rigid covering that envelops an object; “the satellite is covered with a smooth shell of ice”

shell, eggshell

(noun) the exterior covering of a bird’s egg

shell

(noun) the hard usually fibrous outer layer of some fruits especially nuts

shell

(noun) the material that forms the hard outer covering of many animals

husk, shell

(verb) remove the husks from; “husk corn”

shell

(verb) remove from its shell or outer covering; “shell the legumes”; “shell mussels”

beat, beat out, crush, shell, trounce, vanquish

(verb) come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; “Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship”; “We beat the competition”; “Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game”

blast, shell

(verb) use explosives on; “The enemy has been shelling us all day”

shell

(verb) look for and collect shells by the seashore

shell

(verb) hit the pitches of hard and regularly; “He shelled the pitcher for eight runs in the first inning”

shell

(verb) fall out of the pod or husk; “The corn shelled”

blast, shell

(verb) create by using explosives; “blast a passage through the mountain”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Proper noun

Shell

A surname.

Etymology 2

Proper noun

Shell

A diminutive of the female given name Michelle.

Anagrams

• hells

Etymology

Noun

shell (plural shells)

A hard external covering of an animal.

The calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates.

(by extension) Any mollusk having such a covering.

(entomology) The exoskeleton or wing covers of certain insects.

The conjoined scutes that constitute the "shell" (carapace) of a tortoise or turtle.

The overlapping hard plates comprising the armor covering the armadillo's body.

The hard calcareous covering of a bird egg.

One of the outer layers of skin of an onion.

(botany) The hard external covering of various plant seed forms.

The covering, or outside part, of a nut.

A pod containing the seeds of certain plants, such as the legume Phaseolus vulgaris.

(in the plural) Husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is sometimes used as a substitute or adulterant for cocoa and its products such as chocolate.

(geology) The accreted mineral formed around a hollow geode.

(weaponry) The casing of a self-contained single-unit artillery projectile.

(weaponry) A 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 scattered at high velocity its contents and fragments. Formerly called a bomb.

(weaponry) The cartridge of a breechloading firearm; a load; a bullet; a round.

(architecture) Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in, as the shell of a house.

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.

A coarse or flimsy coffin; a thin interior coffin enclosed within a more substantial one.

(music) A string instrument, as a lyre, whose acoustical chamber is formed like a shell.

(music) The body of a drum; the often wooden, often cylindrical acoustic chamber, with or without rims added for tuning and for attaching the drum head.

An engraved copper roller used in print works.

The thin coating of copper on an electrotype.

(nautical) The watertight outer covering of the hull of a vessel, often made with planking or metal plating.

(nautical, rigging) The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve.

(nautical) A light boat whose frame is covered with thin wood, impermeable fabric, or water-proofed paper; a racing shell or dragon boat.

(chemistry) A set of atomic orbitals that have the same principal quantum number.

(figuratively) The outward form independent of what is inside.

(figuratively) The empty outward form of someone or something.

An emaciated person.

A psychological barrier to social interaction.

(computing) An 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.

(business) A legal entity that has no operations.

A concave rough cast-iron tool in which a convex lens is ground to shape.

(engineering) A gouge bit or shell bit.

(phonology) The onset and coda of a syllable.

(UK, slang) A person's ear.

Synonym: shell-like

Verb

shell (third-person singular simple present shells, present participle shelling, simple past and past participle shelled)

To remove the outer covering or shell of something.

To bombard, to fire projectiles at, especially with artillery.

(informal) To disburse or give up money, to pay. (Often used with out).

(intransitive) To fall off, as a shell, crust, etc.

(intransitive) To cast the shell, or exterior covering; to fall out of the pod or husk.

(computing, intransitive) To switch to a shell or command line.

To form shallow, irregular cracks (in a coating).

(topology) To form a shelling.

Anagrams

• hells

Source: Wiktionary


Shell, n. Etym: [OE. shelle, schelle, AS. scell, scyll; akin to D. shel, Icel. skel, Goth. skalja a tile, and E. skill. Cf. Scale of fishes, Shale, Skill.]

1. A hard outside covering, as of a fruit or an animal. Specifically: (a) The covering, or outside part, of a nut; as, a hazelnut shell. (b) A pod. (c) The hard covering of an egg. Think him as a serpent's egg, . . . And kill him in the shell. Shak. (d) (Zoöl.)

Definition: The hard calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates. In some mollusks, as the cuttlefishes, it is internal, or concealed by the mantle. Also, the hard covering of some vertebrates, as the armadillo, the tortoise, and the like. (e) (Zoöl.) Hence, by extension, any mollusks having such a covering.

2. (Mil.)

Definition: A hollow projectile, of various shapes, adapted for a mortar or a cannon, and containing an explosive substance, ignited with a fuse or by percussion, by means of which the projectile is burst and its fragments scattered. See Bomb.

3. The case which holds the powder, or charge of powder and shot, used with breechloading small arms.

4. Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in; as, the shell of a house.

5. A coarse kind of coffin; also, a thin interior coffin inclosed in a more substantial one. Knight.

6. An instrument of music, as a lyre, -- the first lyre having been made, it is said, by drawing strings over a tortoise shell. When Jubal struck the chorded shell. Dryden.

7. An engraved copper roller used in print works.

8. pl.

Definition: The husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is often used as a substitute for chocolate, cocoa, etc.

9. (Naut.)

Definition: The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve.

10. A light boat the frame of which is covered with thin wood or with paper; as, a racing shell. Message shell, a bombshell inside of which papers may be put, in order to convey messages.

– Shell bit, a tool shaped like a gouge, used with a brace in boring wood. See Bit, n., 3.

– Shell button. (a) A button made of shell. (b) A hollow button made of two pieces, as of metal, one for the front and the other for the back, -- often covered with cloth, silk, etc.

– Shell cameo, a cameo cut in shell instead of stone.

– Shell flower. (Bot.) Same as Turtlehead.

– Shell gland. (Zoöl.) (a) A glandular organ in which the rudimentary shell is formed in embryonic mollusks. (b) A glandular organ which secretes the eggshells of various worms, crustacea, mollusks, etc.

– Shell gun, a cannon suitable for throwing shells.

– Shell ibis (Zoöl.), the openbill of India.

– Shell jacket, an undress military jacket.

– Shell lime, lime made by burning the shells of shellfish.

– Shell marl (Min.), a kind of marl characterized by an abundance of shells, or fragments of shells.

– Shell meat, food consisting of shellfish, or testaceous mollusks. Fuller.

– Shell mound. See under Mound.

– Shell of a boiler, the exterior of a steam boiler, forming a case to contain the water and steam, often inclosing also flues and the furnace; the barrel of a cylindrical, or locomotive, boiler.

– Shell road, a road of which the surface or bed is made of shells, as oyster shells.

– Shell sand, minute fragments of shells constituting a considerable part of the seabeach in some places.

Shell, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Shelling.]

1. To strip or break off the shell of; to take out of the shell, pod, etc.; as, to shell nuts or pease; to shell oysters.

2. To separate the kernels of (an ear of Indian corn, wheat, oats, etc.) from the cob, ear, or husk.

3. To throw shells or bombs upon or into; to bombard; as, to shell a town. To shell out, to distribute freely; to bring out or pay, as money. [Colloq.]

Shell, v. i.

1. To fall off, as a shell, crust, etc.

2. To cast the shell, or exterior covering; to fall out of the pod or husk; as, nuts shell in falling.

3. To be disengaged from the ear or husk; as, wheat or rye shells in reaping.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest collection of coffee pots belongs to Robert Dahl (Germany) and consists of 27,390 coffee pots as of 2 November 2012, in Rövershagen, Germany.

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