SHELL | English Meaning, Definition, and Pronunciation

Old English scell (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schel ‘scale, shell’, also to scale. The verb dates from the mid 16th century in shell (sense 2 of the verb)

the hard protective outer case of a mollusc or crustacean

hard protective outer case of mollusc

• cowrie shells
• the technique of carving shell

an explosive artillery projectile or bomb

explosive artillery projectile or bomb

• the sound of the shell passing over, followed by the explosion
• shell holes

something resembling or likened to a shell because of its shape or its function as an outer case

something resembling or likened to shell because of its shape or its function as outer case

• pasta shells
• baked pastry shells filled with cheese

the metal framework of a vehicle body.

metal framework of vehicle body

a light racing boat.

light racing boat

an inner or roughly made coffin.

inner or roughly made coffin

the hand guard of a sword.

hand guard of sword

each of a set of orbitals around the nucleus of an atom, occupied or able to be occupied by electrons of similar energies

each of set of orbitals around nucleus of atom

• in a multi-electron atom, the lowest energy shells fill up first
• an electron descending from one shell to a lower one emits an X-ray

bombard with shells

bombard with shells

• several villages north of the security zone were shelled

remove the shell or pod from (a nut or seed)

remove shell or pod from

• they were shelling peas