shell
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: shĕl
ipa: /ʃɛl/
rhymes: -ɛl
Forms: form: shells
Etymology: From Middle English schelle, from Old English sċiell, from Proto-West Germanic *skallju, from Proto-Germanic *skaljō, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to split, cleave”).
Compare West Frisian skyl (“peel, rind”), Dutch schil (“peel, skin, rink”), Low German Schell (“shell, scale”), Irish scelec (“pebble”), Old Church Slavonic сколика (skolika, “shell”). More at shale.
Doublet of sheal.
* (computing): From being viewed as an outer layer of interface between the user and the operating-system internals.
Senses: examples: text: In some mollusks, as the cuttlefish, the shell is concealed by the animal's outer mantle and is considered internal.
text: Genuine mother-of-pearl buttons are made from sea shells.
text: […] 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.
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto X”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
glosses: A hard external covering of an animal.
The calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates.
glosses: A hard external covering of an animal.
Any mollusk having such a covering.
topics: biology
entomology
natural-sciences
glosses: A hard external covering of an animal.
The exoskeleton or wing covers of certain insects.
glosses: A hard external covering of an animal.
The conjoined scutes that constitute the "shell" (carapace) of a tortoise or turtle.
glosses: A hard external covering of an animal.
The overlapping hard plates comprising the armor covering the armadillo's body.
glosses: The hard calcareous covering of a bird egg.
examples: text: The restaurant served caramelized onion shells.
glosses: One of the outer layers of skin of an onion.
examples: text: The black walnut and the hickory nut, both of the same Genus as the pecan, have much thicker and harder shells than the pecan.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: The hard external covering of various plant seed forms.
The covering, or outside part, of a nut.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: The hard external covering of various plant seed forms.
A pod containing the seeds of certain plants, such as the legume Phaseolus vulgaris.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: The hard external covering of various plant seed forms.
Husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is sometimes used as a substitute or adulterant for cocoa and its products such as chocolate.
topics: geography
geology
natural-sciences
glosses: The accreted mineral formed around a hollow geode.
topics: engineering
government
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
tools
war
weaponry
glosses: The casing of a self-contained single-unit artillery projectile.
topics: engineering
government
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
tools
war
weaponry
glosses: 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 scatter at high velocity its contents and fragments. Formerly called a bomb.
topics: engineering
government
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
tools
war
weaponry
glosses: The cartridge of a breechloading firearm; a load; a bullet; a round.
topics: architecture
glosses: Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in, as the shell of a house.
glosses: 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.
examples: text: 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
ref: 1877, Burke O'Farrell, Proud as Lucifer: A Novel:
glosses: A coarse or flimsy coffin; a thin interior coffin enclosed within a more substantial one.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 23:
glosses: An unmarked vehicle for carrying corpses from a crime scene.
examples: text: The first lyre may have been made by drawing strings over the underside of a tortoise shell.
text: when Jubal struck the chorded shell
ref: 1687, John Dryden, A Song for Cecilia's Day:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A string instrument, as a lyre, whose acoustical chamber is formed like a shell.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: 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.
glosses: An engraved copper roller used in print works.
glosses: The thin coating of copper on an electrotype.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: The watertight outer covering of the hull of a vessel, often made with planking or metal plating.
topics: nautical
transport
qualifier: rigging
glosses: The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A light boat whose frame is covered with thin wood, impermeable fabric, or water-proofed paper; a racing shell or dragon boat.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A set of atomic orbitals that have the same principal quantum number.
glosses: The outward form independent of what is inside.
examples: text: The setback left him a mere shell; he was never the same again.
text: 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.
ref: 1953 April, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes”, in Railway Magazine, page 283:
glosses: The empty outward form of someone or something.
examples: text: He's lost so much weight from illness; he's a shell of his former self.
glosses: An emaciated person.
examples: text: Since coming back from Vietnam; he's been a shell of his former self.
glosses: A person otherwise diminished.
examples: text: Even after months of therapy he's still in his shell.
glosses: A psychological barrier to social interaction.
examples: text: 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".
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: 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.
examples: text: A shell corporation was formed to acquire the old factory.
topics: business
glosses: A legal entity that has no operations.
glosses: A concave rough cast-iron tool in which a convex lens is ground to shape.
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A gouge bit or shell bit.
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
phonology
sciences
glosses: The onset and coda of a syllable.
examples: text: Can I have a quick word in your shell?
synonyms: shell-like
glosses: A person's ear.
examples: text: Chinese (Mandarin) is taught at Westminster from the Lower Shell as an optional subject.
ref: 2013, “Chinese (Mandarin)”, in Westminster School, retrieved 04 Dec 2023:
topics: education
glosses: One or more school grades within secondary education, at certain public schools.
examples: text: a theory shell
text: a topicality shell
glosses: In formal debating, a set of proposed rules to be followed, with set penalties for violating them.
Meronyms: sense: hard external covering
word: mantle
sense: hard external covering
word: carene
Derived terms: word: acorn-shell
word: admiral shell
word: aeroshell
word: ark shell
word: backshell
word: back shell
word: bag of shell
word: bandshell
word: blind shell
word: boat shell
word: bodyshell
word: bombshell
word: breast shell
word: bubble shell
word: camper shell
word: carpet shell
word: carrier shell
word: chicken shell
word: clamshell
word: clean shell
word: cockleshell
word: coconut shell
word: come out of one’s shell
word: cone shell
word: crabshell
word: date shell
word: dead-in-shell
word: deshell
word: Dyson shell
word: ear shell
word: eggshell
word: electron shell
word: enshell
word: file shell
word: fountain shell
word: go into one's shell
word: half shell
word: hardshell
word: hard-shell clam
word: harp shell
word: headshell
word: helmet shell
word: inshell
word: intershell
word: jingle shell
word: kidneyshell
word: lamp shell
word: lentil shell
word: margin shell
word: mask shell
word: mason shell
word: microshell
word: mitre shell
word: multishell
word: music shell
english: River, County, CDP
translation: River, County, CDP
word: Musselshell
word: nanoshell
word: needle shell
word: nonshell
word: nutshell
word: obtuse horn shell
word: olive shell
word: otter shell
word: oystershell
word: pansy shell
word: papershell
word: patty shell
word: pearl shell
word: pen shell
word: pilgrim's shell
word: porcelain shell
word: porphyry shell
word: pulley shell
word: razor shell
word: reverse shell
word: rice shell
word: rosary shell
word: sandwich shell
word: scimitar shell
word: scorpion shell
word: seashell
word: segment shell
word: she-bagger
word: shellac
word: shellback
word: shellbag
word: shellbark
word: shell bed
word: shellburst
word: shell casing
word: shellcode
word: shell company
word: shell corporation
word: shellfire
word: shellfish
word: shellfisherman
word: shellflower
word: shellful
word: shell game
word: shell ginger
word: shell gravel
word: Shell Haven
word: shellheap
word: shell hunger
word: shell ice
word: shell jacket
word: shell-lac
word: Shell Lake
word: shellless
word: shell-less
word: shell-like
word: shell lime
word: shell marl
word: shell moulding
word: shell nail syndrome
word: shellpad
word: shell-pad
word: shell parakeet
word: shell pink
word: shellproof
word: Shell Ridge
word: shell road
word: shell sac
word: shell sand
word: shell script
word: shell shock
word: shell shoveling
word: shell star
word: shell steak
word: shell suit
word: shelltoe
word: shelltoed
word: shelltoes
word: shellular
word: shellwork
word: shellworker
word: shellworking
word: shelly
word: shotshell
word: shuck
word: slit-shell
word: slitshell
word: snailshell
word: soft-shell
word: softshell
word: soft-shell turtle
word: spider shell
word: spur-shell
word: star shell
word: subshell
word: sunset shell
word: supershell
word: tongue-shell
word: tooth shell
word: topshell
word: top shell
word: tortoise shell bracket
word: tortoiseshell
word: tortoise shell
word: tracer shell
word: trough-shell
word: trough shell
word: trumpet shell
word: tulip shell
word: turban shell
word: turnip shell
word: turtleshell
word: tusk shell
word: undershell
word: unshell
word: valence shell
word: waxy screw shell
word: web shell
word: wedge shell
word: wing-shell
word: worm-shell
word: worm shell