hard-shell

[ hahrd-shel ]

/ ˈhɑrdˌʃɛl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hard-shell ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

Also hard-shelled. having a firm, hard shell, as a crab in its normal state; not having recently molted.

rigid or uncompromising.

noun

hard-shell crab.

Nearby words

hard-pressed, hard-put, hard-rock, hard-sell, hard-set, hard-shell, hard-shell clam, hard-shell crab, hard-spun, hard-surface, hard-ticket

Origin of hard-shell

First recorded in 1790–1800

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hard-shell

There are reasons, in other words, for hard-shell conservatives to give him the gimlet eye.
Rand Paul Woos the Base With Hot Monica Lewinsky Talk|Michael Tomasky|February 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One main culprit was the hard-shell helmet that had essentially become a spearing weapon.
Super Bowl XLVIII Is Set to Be the Most Violent One Yet|Evin Demirel|January 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What the hard-shell righties want to know is not about the boring issue of consular security.
The Nonexistent Case Against Susan Rice Crumbles|Michael Tomasky|November 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
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 Money|Michael Tomasky|July 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST

When the oyster season closes in April, the hard-shell clam comes into vogue, the season lasting until September or October.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide|Augusta Foote Arnold
He is such a hard-shell being that he cannot put out feelers to his kind.
Greenmantle|John Buchan
The former is sold in the San Francisco markets as the "hard-shell clam."
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide|Augusta Foote Arnold
M—— was a Hard-shell Baptist, and owned the church, which was built also of logs.
The Minute Man of the Frontier|W. G. Puddefoot
Find out what you yourself really do think, and if you turn out a Sun-worshiper or a Hard-shell Baptist, why, good luck.
The Trail of the Hawk|Sinclair Lewis

British Dictionary definitions for hard-shell

hard-shell

adjective also: hard-shelled

zoology having a shell or carapace that is thick, heavy, or hard

US strictly orthodox

noun

another name for the quahog

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

hard-shell

adjective

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of hard-shell

Examples from the Web for hard-shell

British Dictionary definitions for hard-shell

hard-shell

adjective also: hard-shelled

noun