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.
shells
-
pluralof shell.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
-
present tense formof shell (3rd person singular).present tense
Used to describe things happening now or regularly.
shellnouna hard outer covering of an animal, as the hard case of a mollusk, or either half of the case of a bivalve mollusk.
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.
More than a dozen police personnel were deployed at each of the container checkpoints, equipped with protective shields, batons and tear gas shells.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
This type of aquaculture also has a low carbon footprint and the shells function as a form of carbon capture, according to a 2020 paper by the scientific journal Nature Food.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Without shells, bones or other hard structures, they would have been far less likely to survive the fossilization process than many later animals.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
South Korea, in a pact struck with the U.S., has provided large amounts of munition shells for Ukraine’s use.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
She was so relieved to see him that she ran across the crushed oyster shells to meet him and caught at his hand.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
