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.
Investigators also identified a shell company possibly used to launder the advertising revenue, which totaled to around $6.2 million, and an investment of $200,000 in cryptocurrency.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2025
The complex accounting trick started in March 2017 when a shell company, with no money or assets, called Severn Trent Trimpley was set up as part of the group.
From BBC • Dec. 9, 2024
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
Trump’s company began trading on stock markets in March, after Trump’s business completed a merger with a shell company designed to be listed on stock exchanges.
From Slate • Aug. 13, 2024
The company disclosed at the time that Borgers had also handled its audits before the company went public by merging with a cash-rich shell company called Digital World Acquisition Corp.
From Seattle Times • May 3, 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.
