Lexic.us

Definition of Shell

1. Noun. Ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun.

2. Verb. Use explosives on. "The enemy has been shelling us all day"

3. Verb. Create by using explosives. "Blast a passage through the mountain"

4. Noun. The material that forms the hard outer covering of many animals.

5. Verb. Fall out of the pod or husk. "The corn shelled"

6. Noun. Hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles.

7. Verb. Hit the pitches of hard and regularly. "He shelled the pitcher for eight runs in the first inning"

8. Noun. The hard usually fibrous outer layer of some fruits especially nuts.

9. Verb. Look for and collect shells by the seashore.

10. Noun. The exterior covering of a bird's egg.

11. Verb. Come out better in a competition, race, or conflict. "The fighter managed to Shell his opponent"; "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game"

12. Noun. A rigid covering that envelops an object. "The satellite is covered with a smooth shell of ice"

13. Verb. Remove from its shell or outer covering. "Shell mussels"

14. Noun. A very light narrow racing boat.

15. Noun. The housing or outer covering of something. "The clock has a walnut case"

16. Verb. Remove the husks from. "Husk corn"

17. Noun. A metal sheathing of uniform thickness (such as the shield attached to an artillery piece to protect the gunners).

18. Noun. The hard largely calcareous covering of a mollusc or a brachiopod.

Definition of Shell

1. n. A hard outside covering, as of a fruit or an animal.

2. v. t. 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.

3. v. i. To fall off, as a shell, crust, etc.

4. n. Something similar in form or action to an ordnance shell;

Definition of Shell

1. Proper noun. A diminutive of the female given name '''Michelle'''. ¹

2. Noun. The calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates. ¹

3. Noun. The hard calcareous covering of a bird egg. ¹

4. Noun. (entomology) The exoskeleton or wing covers of certain insects. ¹

5. Noun. The covering, or outside part, of a nut. ¹

6. Noun. A pod containing the seeds of certain plants, such as the legume ''Phaseolus vulgaris''. ¹

7. Noun. (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. ¹

8. Noun. The conjoined scutes that comprise the "shell" (carapace) of a tortoise or turtle. ¹

9. Noun. The overlapping hard plates comprising the armor covering the armadillo's body. ¹

10. Noun. The accreted mineral formed around a hollow geode. ¹

11. Noun. The casing of a self-contained single-unit artillery projectile. ¹

12. Noun. 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. ¹

13. Noun. The cartridge of a breechloading firearm; a load; a bullet; a round. ¹

14. Noun. Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in, as the '''shell''' of a house. ¹

15. Noun. 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. ¹

16. Noun. A coarse or flimsy coffin; a thin interior coffin enclosed within a more substantial one. ¹

17. Noun. (music) A string instrument, as a lyre, whose acoustical chamber is formed like a shell. ¹

18. Noun. (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. ¹

19. Noun. An engraved copper roller used in print works. ¹

20. Noun. (nautical) The watertight outer covering of the hull of a vessel, often made with planking or metal plating. ¹

21. Noun. (nautical rigging) The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve. ¹

22. Noun. (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. ¹

23. Noun. (computing) An operating system software user interface, whose primary purpose is to launch other programs and control their interactions; the user's command interpreter. ¹

24. Noun. (context: chemistry) A set of atomic orbitals that have the same principal quantum number. ¹

25. Noun. An emaciated person. ¹

26. Noun. A psychological barrier to social interaction. ¹

27. Noun. (business) A legal entity that has no operations. ¹

28. Verb. To remove the outer covering or shell of something. See sheller. ¹

29. Verb. To bombard, to fire projectiles at. ¹

30. Verb. (informal) To disburse or give up money, to pay. (Often used with ''out''). ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Shell

1. to divest of a shell (a hard outer covering) [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Shell

1. 1. A hard outside covering, as of a fruit or an animal. Specifically: The covering, or outside part, of a nut; as, a hazelnut shell. A pod. The hard covering of an egg. "Think him as a serpent's egg, . . . And kill him in the shell. " (Shak) Hence, by extension, any mollusks having such a covering. 2. 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. 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. The husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is often used as a substitute for chocolate, cocoa, etc. 9. 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. Shell button. A button made of shell. 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. A kind of marl characterised by an abundance of shells, or fragments of shells. Shell meat, food consisting of shellfish, or testaceous mollusks. Shell mound. See 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. Origin: 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Shell

shelfful shelffuls shelfier shelfiest shelfing shelflife shelflike shelflives shelfmark shelfmarks

shelfs shelfward shelfware shelfwares shelfy shell shell-flower shell-lac shell-lacs shell-less

shell-like shell-likes shell-pad shell-paddock shell-shock shell-shocked shell-suit shell-suits shell bean shell bean plant

Literary usage of Shell

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism by James Clerk Maxwell (1892)
"If a thin shell of magnetic matter is magnetized in a direction everywhere normal to its surface, the intensity of the magnetization at any place multiplied ..."

2. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"Fragment of the shell of Globigerina. seen from within, and highly magnified, n, fine perforations in the inner shell sub- ..."

3. A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism by James Clerk Maxwell (1892)
"If a thin shell of magnetic matter is magnetized iii .a direction everywhere normal to its surface, the intensity of the magnetization at any place ..."

4. A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism by James Clerk Maxwell (1904)
"If a thin shell of magnetic matter is magnetized in a direction everywhere normal to its surface, the intensity of the magnetization at any place multiplied ..."

5. Biennial Report by California Dept. of Agriculture, California State Commission of Horticulture (1894)
"The California almond known to the trade as soft-shell. El Supremo, 1\ oz. kernel; ... An ideal almond shape; not over long, with a perfect shell. ..."

6. United States Supreme Court Reports by United States Supreme Court, Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, LEXIS Law Publishing (1901)
"end of the shell by the shoulder on the mandrel. The die, mandrel and shell then advance together, and the closed end of the shell is forced against the ..."

7. Nature by Norman Lockyer (1878)
"It appears obvious to me that the thick calcareous shell of the Nautilus has protected the inclosed shells of the Foraminifera from the action of the ..."

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