Meaning

A hard external covering of an animal..

Definitions by Sense

1. A hard external covering of an animal.
2. The hard calcareous covering of a bird egg.
3. One of the outer layers of skin of an onion.
4. (botany) The hard external covering of various plant seed forms.
5. (geology) The accreted mineral formed around a hollow geode.
6. (weaponry) The casing of a self-contained single-unit artillery projectile.
7. (weaponry) 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.
8. (weaponry) The cartridge of a breechloading firearm; a load; a bullet; a round.

Example Sentences

The restaurant served caramelized onion shells.

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

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.

The first lyre may have been made by drawing strings over the underside of a tortoise shell.

when Jubal struck the chorded shell

The setback left him a mere shell; he was never the same again.

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.

He's lost so much weight from illness; he's a shell of his former self.

Word Forms

• shells
• shelling
• shelled

Synonyms for shell

Related Words

When Should You Use Shell?

Use shell when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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