shell Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun
  2. noun the material that forms the hard outer covering of many animals
  3. noun hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles
    cuticle; carapace; shield.
  4. noun the hard usually fibrous outer layer of some fruits especially nuts
  5. noun the exterior covering of a bird's egg
    eggshell.
  6. noun a rigid covering that envelops an object
    • the satellite is covered with a smooth shell of ice
  7. noun a very light narrow racing boat
    racing shell.
  8. noun the housing or outer covering of something
    case; casing.
    • the clock has a walnut case
  9. noun a metal sheathing of uniform thickness (such as the shield attached to an artillery piece to protect the gunners)
    plate; scale.
  10. noun the hard largely calcareous covering of a mollusc or a brachiopod
  11. verb use explosives on
    blast.
    • The enemy has been shelling us all day
  12. verb create by using explosives
    blast.
    • blast a passage through the mountain
  13. verb fall out of the pod or husk
    • The corn shelled
  14. verb hit the pitches of hard and regularly
    • He shelled the pitcher for eight runs in the first inning
  15. verb look for and collect shells by the seashore
  16. verb come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
    beat; trounce; crush; beat out; vanquish.
    • Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship
    • We beat the competition
    • Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game
  17. verb remove from its shell or outer covering
    • shell the legumes
    • shell mussels
  18. verb remove the husks from
    husk.
    • husk corn

WordNet

Shell, Shell"ing noun (Also<
  • Shell
  • Shelling
)
Definitions
  1. See Sheeling.
Shell noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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.) 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.) 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.
Shell transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Shelled ; present participle & verbal noun Shelling
Definitions
  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.
Shell intransitive verb
Definitions
  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 1913