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Webster 1913 Edition

Shell

Shell

,
Noun.
[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
.
Shakespeare
(d)
(Zool.)
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)
(Zool.)
Hence, by extension, any mollusks having such a covering.
2.
(Mil.)
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.
The husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is often used as a substitute for chocolate, cocoa, etc.
9.
(Naut.)
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
,
Noun.
, 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
.
(Zool.)
(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
(Zool.)
,
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

,
Verb.
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

,
Verb.
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
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Shell

SHELL

,
Noun.
1. The hard and stony covering of certain fruits and of certain animals; as the shell of a nut; the shell of an oyster or lobster. the shells of animals are crustaceous or testaceous; crustaceous as that of the lobster, and testaceous as that of the oyster and clam.
2. The outer coat of an egg.
3. The outer part of a house unfinished. We say of a building that wants the interior timbers or finishing, that it is a mere shell.
4. An instrument of music, like testudo in Latin; the first lyre being make, it is said, by drawing strings over a tortoise shell.
5. Oute ror superficial part; as the shell of religion.
6. A bomb.

Definition 2024

Shell

Shell

See also: shell and she'll

English

Proper noun

Shell

  1. A diminutive of the female given name Michelle.

Anagrams

shell

shell

See also: she'll and Shell

English

A conch shell

Noun

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.
      In some mollusks, as the cuttlefish, the shell is concealed by the animal's outer mantle and is considered internal.
      Genuine mother-of-pearl buttons are made from sea shells.
    2. (by extension) Any mollusk having such a covering.
    3. (entomology) The 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. The hard external covering of various plant seed forms.
    1. The 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. A pod containing the seeds of certain plants, such as the legume Phaseolus vulgaris.
    3. (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.
  4. The accreted mineral formed around a hollow geode.
  5. The casing of a self-contained single-unit artillery projectile.
  6. 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.
  7. The cartridge of a breechloading firearm; a load; a bullet; a round.
  8. Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in, as the shell of a house.
  9. 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.
  10. A coarse or flimsy coffin; a thin interior coffin enclosed within a more substantial one.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)
  11. (music) A 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.
    • Dryden
      when Jubal struck the chorded shell
  12. (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.
  13. An engraved copper roller used in print works.
  14. (nautical) The watertight outer covering of the hull of a vessel, often made with planking or metal plating.
  15. (nautical, rigging) The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve.
  16. (nautical) A light boat whose frame is covered with thin wood, impermeable fabric, or water-proofed paper; a racing shell or dragon boat.
  17. (computing) An operating system software user interface, whose primary purpose is to launch other programs and control their interactions; the user's command interpreter.
    The name shell originates from it being viewed as an outer layer of interface between the user and the internals of the operating system.
    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".
  18. (chemistry) A set of atomic orbitals that have the same principal quantum number.
  19. An emaciated person.
    He's lost so much weight from illness; he's a shell of his former self.
  20. A psychological barrier to social interaction.
    Even after months of therapy he's still in his shell.
  21. (business) A legal entity that has no operations.
    A shell corporation was formed to acquire the old factory.
  22. A concave rough cast-iron tool in which a convex lens is ground to shape.
  23. (engineering) A gouge bit or shell bit.

Derived terms

Translations

overlapping hard plates comprising the armor covering armadillo's body
music: body of a drum


Verb

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

  1. To remove the outer covering or shell of something. See sheller.
  2. To bombard, to fire projectiles at, especially with artillery.
  3. (informal) To disburse or give up money, to pay. (Often used with out).
  4. (intransitive) To fall off, as a shell, crust, etc.
  5. (intransitive) To cast the shell, or exterior covering; to fall out of the pod or husk.
    Nuts shell in falling.
    Wheat or rye shells in reaping.
  6. (computing, intransitive) To switch to a shell or command line.
    • 1993, Robin Nixon, The PC Companion (page 115)
      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.
  7. To form shallow, irregular cracks (in a coating).
  8. (topology) To form a shelling.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃɛl/
  • Rhymes: -ɛl
  • Homophone: shell

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