Jump To:

• shell
  shell

  noun

  a hard outer covering of an animal, as the hard case of a mollusk, or either half of the case of a bivalve mollusk.
• she'll
  she'll

  contraction of she will.

shell

¹ American  

[shel] / ʃɛl /

noun

• shells
  plural

1. a hard outer covering of an animal, as the hard case of a mollusk, or either half of the case of a bivalve mollusk.

2. any of various objects resembling such a covering, as in shape or in being more or less concave or hollow.

3. the material constituting any of various coverings of this kind.

4. the hard exterior of an egg.

5. the usually hard, outer covering of a seed, fruit, or the like, as the hard outside portion of a nut, the pod of peas, etc.

6. a hard, protecting or enclosing case or cover.

7. an attitude or manner of reserve that usually conceals one's emotions, thoughts, etc..

   One could not penetrate his shell.

8. a hollow projectile for a cannon, mortar, etc., filled with an explosive charge designed to explode during flight, upon impact, or after penetration.

9. a metallic cartridge used in small arms and small artillery pieces.

10. a metal or paper cartridge, as for use in a shotgun.

11. a cartridgelike pyrotechnic device that explodes in the air.

12. Italian Cooking. shells, small pieces of pasta having the shape of a shell.

13. the lower pastry crust of a pie, tart, or the like, baked before the filling is added.

14. Computers. a program providing a menu-driven or graphical user interface designed to simplify use of the operating system, as in loading application programs.

15. Physics.

    1. any of up to seven energy levels on which an electron may exist within an atom, the energies of the electrons on the same level being equal and on different levels being unequal.

    2. a group of nucleons of approximately the same energy.

16. a light, long, narrow racing boat, for rowing by one or more persons.

17. the outer part of a finished garment that has a lining, especially a detachable lining.

18. a woman's sleeveless blouse or sweater, especially one meant for wear under a suit jacket.

19. Nautical. the plating, planking, or the like, covering the ribs and forming the exterior hull of a vessel.

20. tortoiseshell.

21. a mollusk.

22. Engineering. the curved solid forming a dome or vault.

23. an arena or stadium covered by a domed or arched roof.

24. a saucer-shaped arena or stadium.

25. the framework, external structure, or walls and roof of a building.

    After the fire, only the shell of the school was left.

26. a small glass for beer.

27. the metal, pressure-resistant outer casing of a fire-tube boiler.

28. Metallurgy.

    1. a scab on the surface of an ingot.

    2. a length of unfinished tubing.

    3. a pierced forging.

    4. a hollow object made by deep drawing.

---

verb (used with object)

• shells,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shelled,
  past participle,  past
• shelling
  present participle

1. to take out of the shell, pod, etc.; remove the shell of.

2. to separate (Indian corn, grain, etc.) from the ear, cob, or husk.

3. to fire shells or explosive projectiles into, upon, or among; bombard.

verb (used without object)

• shells,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shelled,
  past participle,  past
• shelling
  present participle

1. to fall or come out of the shell, husk, etc.

2. to come away or fall off, as a shell or outer coat.

3. to gather sea shells.

   We spent the whole morning shelling while the tide was out.

verb phrase

1. shell out to hand over (money); contribute; pay.

she'll ² American  

[sheel, shil] / ʃil, ʃɪl /

1. contraction of she will.

---

she'll ¹ British  

/ ʃiːl, ʃɪl /

contraction

1. she will or she shall

---

shell ² British  

/ ʃɛl /

noun

1. the protective calcareous or membranous outer layer of an egg, esp a bird's egg

2. the hard outer covering of many molluscs that is secreted by the mantle

3. any other hard outer layer, such as the exoskeleton of many arthropods

4. the hard outer layer of some fruits, esp of nuts

5. any hard outer case

6. a hollow artillery projectile filled with explosive primed to explode either during flight, on impact, or after penetration Compare ball 1

7. a small-arms cartridge comprising a hollow casing inside which is the primer, charge, and bullet

8. a pyrotechnic cartridge designed to explode in the air

9. rowing a very light narrow racing boat

10. the external structure of a building, esp one that is unfinished or one that has been gutted by fire

11. the basic structural case of something, such as a machine, vehicle, etc

12. physics

    1. a class of electron orbits in an atom in which the electrons have the same principal quantum number and orbital angular momentum quantum number and differences in their energy are small compared with differences in energy between shells

    2. an analogous energy state of nucleons in certain theories ( shell models ) of the structure of the atomic nucleus

13. the pastry case of a pie, flan, etc

14. a thin slab of concrete or a skeletal framework made of wood or metal that forms a shell-like roof

15. (in some schools) a class or form

16. to become less shy and reserved

17. to help to become less shy and reserved

---

verb

1. to divest or be divested of a shell, husk, pod, etc

2. to separate or be separated from an ear, husk, cob, etc

3. (tr) to bombard with artillery shells

shell Scientific  

/ shĕl /

1. 1. The usually hard outer covering of certain animals, such as mollusks, insects, and turtles.

   2. The hard outer covering of a bird's egg.

   3. The hard outer covering of a seed, nut, or fruit.

2. 1. A set of electron orbitals that have nearly the same energy. Electrons in outer shells have greater energy than those in shells closer to the nucleus. Elements in the Periodic Table range from the lightest elements with electrons normally occupying one shell (hydrogen and helium) to the heaviest, with electrons in seven shells (radium and uranium, for instance).

   2. Any of the stable states of other particles or collections of particles (such as the nucleons in an atomic nucleus) at a given energy or small range of energies.

---

shell Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing shell

• in one's shell

---

Usage

See contraction.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• de-shell
  verb (used with object)
• shell-less
  adjective
• shell-like
  adjective
• shelly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shells
  plural

Participles

• shelling
  present
• shelled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shell
  simple
• shells
  simple
• have shelled
  perfect
• has shelled
  perfect
• am shelling
  progressive
• are shelling
  progressive
• is shelling
  progressive
• have been shelling
  perfect progressive
• has been shelling
  perfect progressive

Past

• shelled
  simple
• had shelled
  perfect
• was shelling
  progressive
• were shelling
  progressive
• had been shelling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shell
  simple
• will have shelled
  perfect
• will be shelling
  progressive
• will have been shelling
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of shell

before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English scell (north), sciell; cognate with Dutch schil peel, skin, rink, Old Norse skel shell, Gothic skalja tile; (v.) derivative of the noun; cf. shale

---

Explanation

A hard surface that covers an animal is its shell. Sea urchins, turtles, and lobsters all have protective shells. The largest turtle shell is nearly 10 feet wide! Most shells are made of calcium carbonate, and they grow along with the animal. Bird embryos are nestled inside shells, and nuts have shells too. Other uses for shell come from the biological meaning. A rifle shell has a shell-like metal casing. An empty structure, with only walls, is the shell of a building. And to "come out of your shell," means to emerge, like a turtle, from your shyness.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shell she'll shells shelled shelling

Differences in shell structure or muscle anatomy might impose physical limits on how large North American crayfish can become.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

The North Stand is a shell and currently closed for building work as the club increases the stadium's capacity to over 50,000.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

“There is everything in the perfect bite,” Moore said of the vaunted marriage of ground beef, shredded cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and rich sour cream in a corn shell.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

According to the case file seen by AFP, their consortium used shell companies and Albanian and foreign nationals, notably Dutch and Italian, to conceal the identity of the real owners of the concessions.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

He arranged the shell collection into smaller piles.

From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn

Those who wonder how long she’ll last are probably on to something.

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026

Then, she’ll start from scratch, asking what a patient is feeling and making clinical decisions from there.

From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026

After treks to downtown L.A.’s Fashion District to find just the right materials, she’ll mock up clever riffs on julienned ginger and cilantro leaves.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

ANN SIOCHI, a West Virginia resident, still plans on visiting Aspen next summer, during the closure, though she’ll be driving almost four hours from Denver International Airport to get there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

And I’m going to have to think of a lie that she’ll believe.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

North Korea has shipped around 33,000 containers of munitions to Russia, including shells and missiles, Seoul officials said in March.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

More than a dozen police personnel were deployed at each of the container checkpoints, equipped with protective shields, batons and tear gas shells.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

This type of aquaculture also has a low carbon footprint and the shells function as a form of carbon capture, according to a 2020 paper by the scientific journal Nature Food.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

It provides the filling for shells, made like brandy snaps but using Sicilian Marsala wine instead.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

At Fukushima, while radiation did escape from the reactor vessels, the protective shells around the reactors remained intact.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

Should the couple manage to secure a buyer at or near their full asking price, the sale would mark an enormous increase from the $29.8 million they shelled out for the property in 2010.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

At what point should I bite the bullet and just accept less than what I shelled out?

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026

Arsenal shelled out close to £200m on new signings during the summer transfer window but fell short of landing the elite forward they craved.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

So Michigan dived into the transfer portal—and shelled out more than $10 million over the entire roster—to remake 80% of its starting lineup.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

She went back inside and came out a few minutes later with a pan of peas to be shelled.

From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep

The nation’s top programs are shelling out astronomic NIL paydays to top prospects.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Big spending always means big ambitions, but shelling out so much money on so many players the way Tottenham did this summer produces problems for any manager, and there is no quick fix.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Instead of shelling out at least $1,999 up front, Duo buyers can lease their foldable for $57.99 a month across a two-year schedule, or $82.99 a month across 12 months.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

But shelling out a joint-British record fee showcased City's perseverance to acquire their man and those upstairs at Etihad Stadium have shown unequivocal faith to both player and manager.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

I heard her talking with our next-door neighbor while we were shelling pigeon peas.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---