Dictionary.com

shellfish

[ shel-fish ]
/ ˈʃɛlˌfɪʃ /
Save This Word!

noun, plural (especially collectively) shell·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) shell·fish·es.
an aquatic animal having a shell, as the oyster and other mollusks and the lobster and other crustaceans.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of shellfish

before 900; Middle English; Old English scilfisc.See shell, fish
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use shellfish in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shellfish

shellfish
/ (ˈʃɛlˌfɪʃ) /

noun plural -fish or -fishes
any aquatic invertebrate having a shell or shell-like carapace, esp such an animal used as human food. Examples are crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters and molluscs such as oysters
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
FEEDBACK