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• 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.

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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.

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shell ¹ 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

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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

she'll ² British  

/ ʃiːl, ʃɪl /

contraction

1. she will or she shall

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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.

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shell Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing shell

• in one's shell

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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

I realized in conversation with the handsome singletons of the Southern California coast, I was already halfway through an exciting post-divorce chapter of my life, coming out of my sad little shell.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

This policy would not ban shell companies outright, but it would make them expensive to maintain.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

The telescope is already enclosed inside Falcon Heavy's protective fairing, the shell that surrounds a spacecraft during launch and shields it from aerodynamic forces and the atmosphere.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

"We would just do fun stuff and he helped me get out of my shell," she said.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

There was a sign for a demolition company, and the windows had been removed so that only the shell of the building remained.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

But in order to keep it, she’ll first have to defeat five siblings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

She is the princess, and this is the castle she’ll be locked in, an indomitable beast of a citadel fittingly titled the Tower Hotel.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

Missing your daughter’s youth while behind bars is a crushing weight, but knowing she’ll never see her father again is a far darker reality.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

That is not to say she'll not be just as competitive as her close friend.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Maggie scowls into the dark, mentally counting the weeks until she’ll be eighteen.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The cyclical freezing and thawing of soil also brings old shells to the surface, Goldammer said, much as flower beds can seem to produce fresh stones every winter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Organisms older than 500 million years did not yet possess shells or skeletons.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

Astronomers are still working to understand why this swept-up gas forms such complicated arrangements of rings and shells, structures that are commonly seen in planetary nebulae.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Police in India have fired tear gas shells on protesters demanding reforms to recruitment exams in the eastern state of Jharkhand.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

He used these cowry shells for fashion one fishing lure he named Kalokuna.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Fox paid $485 million for the rights to the 2026 World Cup, while Telemundo shelled out $600 million for the Spanish-language telecasts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

My parents wanted to save my life, and so they shelled out the cash, my father taking on side jobs to pay for it.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

And a few months later, in November of that year, £354.70 was shelled out on an assortment of Le Creuset espresso and cappuccino mugs in the space of just four days.

From BBC ● May 25, 2026

During his tenure, the club shelled out more than $2 billion in the transfer market so that Guardiola was never short of talent to bring his vision to life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

With the help of my sisters, we shelled the com.

From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls

But shelling out $85 cash for this perfect, pilgrim/courthouse dress was the only right decision in that moment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Also on Saturday, Russia's defence ministry proposed Kyiv halt shelling in Kostyantynivka on Monday between 0900 and 1500 GMT to carry out a "humanitarian" operation to hand over "the bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers".

From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026

Mark paid Williams £44,000 - but ended up shelling out an extra £20,000 to get the job finished without him.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

And the palace is shelling out for more expensive cybersecurity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

The shelling kept on as we approached the shore, visible in the growing fight as a white fine of tide.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac