hard-shell
[hahrd-shel]
- Also hard-shelled. having a firm, hard shell, as a crab in its normal state; not having recently molted.
- rigid or uncompromising.
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Origin of hard-shell
First recorded in 1790–1800
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for hard-shell
Contemporary Examples
There are reasons, in other words, for hard-shell conservatives to give him the gimlet eye.
One main culprit was the hard-shell helmet that had essentially become a spearing weapon.
What the hard-shell righties want to know is not about the boring issue of consular security.
From a policy perspective, this is the next battleground, the pressure point of resistance for the hard-shell ideologues.
The Resistance Begins: Rick Scott Announces Florida Won't Take Medicaid MoneyMichael Tomasky
July 2, 2012
Historical Examples
The former is sold in the San Francisco markets as the "hard-shell clam."
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tideAugusta Foote Arnold
He is such a hard-shell being that he cannot put out feelers to his kind.
GreenmantleJohn Buchan
This man was a Hard-shell Baptist, commonly imperturbable to outside sights and doings when the spirit moved him.
The Lincoln Story BookHenry L. Williams
The Almonds commonly sold by nurserymen in the east are hard-shell varieties, and the nuts are not good enough for commerce.
The Practical Garden-BookC. E. Hunn
These people boast that their hard-shell wheat is decidedly superior to that of Dakota and Minnesota.
A Summer's OutingCarter H. Harrison
hard-shell
- zoology having a shell or carapace that is thick, heavy, or hard
- US strictly orthodox
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- another name for the quahog
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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