Contents
English
Wikipedia has an article on: Shell A conch shellEtymology
< Middle English schelle < Old English scel (“‘shell, cod, peel, rind, web (of the eye), bell’”). Cf. sheal, a doublet of shell.
Pronunciation
Noun
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Singular shell |
Plural shells |
shell (plural shells)
- 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.
- The hard calcareous covering of a bird egg.
- The exoskeleton or wing covers of certain insects.
- 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.
- A pod containing the seeds of certain plants, such as the legume Phaseolus vulgaris.
- 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.
- The conjoined scutes that comprise the "shell" (carapace) of a tortoise or turtle.
- The overlapping hard plates comprising the armor covering the armadillo's body.
- The accreted mineral formed around a hollow geode.
- The casing of a self-contained single-unit artillery projectile.
- A hollow usually spherical or cylindrical projectile fired from a seige 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 (q.v.).
- The cartridge of a breechloading firearm; a load; a bullet; a round.
- 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.
- The first lyre may have been made by drawing strings over the underside of a tortoise 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.
- (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 the frame of which is covered with thin wood, impermeable fabric, or water-proofed paper; a racing shell or dragon boat.
- (computing) A general-purpose environment, usually command-line-oriented, within which other commands are invoked and their interactions controlled.
- (chemistry) A set of atomic orbitals that have the same principal quantum number.
- An emaciated person.
- He's lost so much weight from illness; he's a shell of his former self.
- A psychological barrier to social interaction.
- Even after months of therapy he's still in his shell.
Derived terms
Verb
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Infinitive to shell |
Third person singular shells |
Simple past shelled |
Past participle shelled |
Present participle shelling |
to 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. See sheller.
- To bombard, to fire projectiles at.
- (informal) To disburse or give up money, to pay. (Often used with out).
Derived terms
Translations
to remove the outer covering or shell of something
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External links
- shell in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- shell in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- Shell on Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Commons
Anagrams
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fabfrog.com
DirkBeauregard
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:27:55 GM
And today in small town France it was our fifteenth annual . Shell. Fish Festival - even if we are about.
How does a Chicken produce a hard shell for a egg? Where does the shell come from?
Q. Wikpedia told me its something to do witht the shell gland? But how does it form that same looking shell each and every time???
Asked by Loz - Mon Sep 18 18:29:29 2006 - - 8 Answers - 0 Comments
A. It is calcium that makes the shell that covers the membrane inside during fertilization, and then when the egg is laid, it is sort of a silly putty consistency as it travels down the laying canal and as it is released from the vent and hits air, the shell begins to harden.
Answered by atthean - Mon Sep 18 18:49:24 2006
Q. Wikpedia told me its something to do witht the shell gland? But how does it form that same looking shell each and every time???
Asked by Loz - Mon Sep 18 18:29:29 2006 - - 8 Answers - 0 Comments
A. It is calcium that makes the shell that covers the membrane inside during fertilization, and then when the egg is laid, it is sort of a silly putty consistency as it travels down the laying canal and as it is released from the vent and hits air, the shell begins to harden.
Answered by atthean - Mon Sep 18 18:49:24 2006
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