shell company
Britishnoun
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a near-defunct company, esp one with a stock-exchange listing, used as a vehicle for a thriving company
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a company that has ceased to trade but retains its registration and is sold for a small sum to enable its new owners to avoid the cost and trouble of registering a new company
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
U.S. authorities adopted a new strategy in October to target addresses of company secretaries in Hong Kong to disrupt shell company creation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
All would-be entrants had to do was set up a shell company and then apply for access to the registry, which was normally given.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026
On Aug. 1, federal prosecutors filing a legal brief alleging that taxpayer funds from the county went into a slush fund held by a shell company to help pay for its illegal activities.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025
That's below the $17.50 share price that the shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corporation, had at the start of the year.
From Salon • Sep. 5, 2024
So he allegedly directed his longtime fixer Michael Cohen to pay off Daniels, through a shell company, for her silence.
From Slate • Apr. 14, 2024
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
