| 释义 |
▪ I. shell, n.|ʃɛl|
Forms: 1 sciell, scel(l, scill, scyll, 4 schele, scell, chelle, s(c)hill, (schyl-), 4–5 schelle, schylle, 4–6 schell, shelle, (schel-), 4–7 shel, 5 shylle, schull(e, 7 shul, 9 dial. shill, shull, 4– shell.
[OE. sciell, scill, Anglian scell fem. = WFris. skyl peel, rind, egg-shell, NFris. skel, skal sea-shell, (M)LG. schelle, schille pod, rind, fish-scale, eggshell, MDu. schelle, schille shell, pod, bark, rind, pl. scurf (Du. schel, schil), ON. skel sea-shell (Norw. skjæl), Goth. skalja tile:—OTeut. *skaljō, f. *skal-, for other derivatives of which see scale n.1, n.2, shale n.1 Cf. skell, from ON.]
I. The hard outside covering of an animal, a fruit, etc.
1. a. The calcareous or chitinous outer covering of crustaceans, molluscs, and other invertebrates.
See also cockle-shell, mussel-shell, oyster-shell, scallop-shell.
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) C 863 Conca, musclan scel. a1100Aldhelm Gloss. i. 447 (Napier 13/2) Conca, musclan scille. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 518 Ȝet wes lewit hym [sc. Job] a schele to schrape his scabbis rycht snel. 1387–8T. Usk Test. Love i. iii. (Skeat) l. 78 A muskel, in a blewe shel. c1430Two Cookery-bks. 24 Pyke owt þe Muskele of þe schulle. c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.Wülcker 765/27 Hec testa, a schylle. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) v. 33 Mussillis in schellis. 1605Shakes. Lear i. v. 27 Can'st tell how an Oyster makes his shell? a1631Donne Poems (1654) 38 Let others freez with angling reeds, And cut their legs, with shels and weeds. 1709Steele Tatler No. 112 ⁋3 They used to gather up Shells on the Sea-Shore. 1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4510/7 About 14000 Oysters in the Shells. a1728Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils ii. (1729) I. 24 Two Nautiloides, or Bodies form'd in Shells of the Nautilus. 1833–4J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 684/2 The small bivalve crustaceous shells of cypris. 1834McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 272 All the Brachiopoda are invested with bivalve shells, fixed and immoveable. Ibid. 468 The..Sea-Urchins..have the body invested by a shell or calcareous crust. 1870Rolleston Anim. Life 47 The thickness of the Gasteropodous shell diminishes from its free rim upwards. 1895C. Kernahan God & Ant Apol. (ed. 4) 10 As the grain of sand, which has found its way into his shell, vexes and irks the oyster.
b. Allusive uses, with reference to:
(a) The formation of pearls within the shells of molluscs. (b) The association of a shell with persons of classical mythology (e.g. Venus Anadyomene). (c) The sound of the sea heard when a round-lipped shell is placed with the mouth to one's ear.
(a)1390Gower Conf. III. 346 He hath noght elles, Nomor the perles than the schelles. [1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 2 A margerye perle aftyr the phylosophyr Growyth on a shelle of lytyl pryhs.] 1611B. Jonson Catiline i. i. Chorus, Her Women weare The spoiles of Nations, in an eare, Chang'd for the treasure of a shell. [1813Scott Trierm. iii. xxvi, See these pearls,..These were tears by Naiads wept..Tritons in the silver shell Treasured them.] 1850Tennyson In Mem. lii, Thy wealth is gather'd in, When Time hath sunder'd shell from pearl.
(b)1634Milton Comus 231 Sweet Echo, sweetest Nymph that liv'st unseen Within thy airy shell. 1685Dryden Albion i. 8 Venus in her shell. 1823Byron Island ii. vii, A form like Aphrodite's in her shell.
(c)1814Wordsworth Excurs. iv. 1141 Even such a shell the universe itself Is to the ear of Faith.
2. A shell of this kind (or a vessel resembling one) used for a specific purpose.
a. = scallop n. 1 c. b. Used as a target. Sc., chiefly with indecent allusion (cf. L. concha = cunnus). c. pl. Seashells used as money. (Cf. cowry.) † d. A drinking vessel. e. A mussel-shell containing pigment to be used by mixing with gum. f. = conch 3.
a.1362Langland P. Pl. A. vi. 12 Signes of Synay and Schelles of Galys. 1507Pilton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 64, iij schellys of Seynt Iame.
b.1497Acc. Ld. High. Treas. Scot. I. 360 Item, to the king, to schut at the schell..xvjd. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxi. 13 He that..schuttis syne at ane vncow schell,..He wirkis sorrow to him sell. 1536Lyndesay Answ. Kingis Flyting 45 Tholand ȝow rin schutand frome schell to schell. a1568Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 392 Few honour wynnis in to that innys For schutting at the schellis.
c.1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa vii. 288 In matters of smal value they use certaine shels brought hither out of the Kingdome of Persia, fower hundred of which shels are worth a ducate. 1732T. Lediard Sethos II. vii. 65 An office of exchange to receive the shells of foreign savages.
d.1577tr. Bullinger's Decades ii. x. 243 Some menne there are, which..swallowe..deintie hearbe brothes,..not out of a cup, but out of a shell. 1773Boswell Tour Hebr. 5 Oct., Whiskey was served round in a shell, according to the ancient Highland custom.
e.1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Concha, Conchæ, shelles wherin peynters putte theyr colours. 1665Hooke Microgr. 75 Those several colours they lay on their Shels or Palads. 1666Spurstowe Wiles of Satan 12 As a Painter doth his many Colours, that lye..before him in their several Shells. 1895Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 668 Colours for Illuminating... Tube of Enamel White, Gold Shell, Aluminium Shell.
f.1634Milton Comus 873 By scaly Tritons winding shell. [1699Potter Antiq. Greece iii. ix. 86 Shells of Fishes..which they sounded in the manner of Trumpets.] 1823Byron Island ii. ii, Ere Fiji blew the shell of war.
3. As a rendering of Gr. ὄστρακον, the potsherd or tile used in the ostracism of the ancient Greeks.
The ὄστρακον has been freq. taken by mod. writers for an oyster-shell.
[1538Elyot Dict., Ostracismus,..whyche exyle was doone by delyuerynge of oyster shelles.] 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Ostracismus, a kinde of banishment amonge the Athenians for .x. yeres space, whiche was done by deliuerynge of shelles with the names of the persons condemned wryten in them. 1579–80North Plutarch, Aristides (1595) 353 At a certaine day appointed, euery citizen caried a great shell in his hande, whereupon he wrote the name of him he would haue banished. 1711Pope Temple of Fame 173 He [sc. Aristides] whom ungrateful Athens could expell, At all times just, but when he sign'd the Shell. 1770Langhorne Plutarch, Nicias III. 389 The shell was not designed for such wretches as he. 1845Encycl. Metrop. IX. 365/1 If the name of any person was found to be written on six thousand tiles or shells [etc.].
4. pl. Burnt limestone before it is slaked. † in shells: unslaked.
1743in R. Maxwell Sel. Trans. Agric. 191 Shells will weigh about 25 Stone-weight the Boll. [1793: see lime n.1 5] .1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 282 The farmers endeavour to carry it in shells, while the water is dissipated and the lime light. 1812Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 178 [He] brings his lime from the kiln, lays it in small heaps, about a firlot of shells in each heap. 1884F. J. Lloyd Sci. Agric. 113 The lumps of burnt and unslaked limestone are known as shells.
5. Used as the second element of the name of a particular shellfish, as acorn-shell, razor-shell; hence (chiefly pl.) = shellfish, in referring to classificatory groups.
1751Chambers' Cycl., Balani... They are commonly called in English, centre-shells. 1840Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 386 The Balanus or Acorn-Shells. 1858Baird Cycl. Nat. Sci. s.v. Mollusca, Conchifera, or ordinary bivalve shells, which breathe by two pairs of gills.
6. a. The hard outer calcareous envelope of a bird's egg. († in the shell, of an egg, boiled.) Also, the similar integument of the eggs of other creatures. Cf. egg-shell.
a900O.E. Martyrol. 18 Mar. 40 Se rodor ymbfehð..sæ & eorðan, swa seo scell utan ymbfehð þæt æᵹ. 13..K. Alis. 571 An ay he laide, so he fleygh,.. That tobrak, Y yow telle: A dragon crep out of the schelle. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. i. (Bodl. MS.), The chikenes comeþ forþe of þe schelle alyue and fulle schape. c1430Two Cookery-bks. 41 Take Eyroun, & blow owt þat ys with-ynne..þan waysshe þe schulle clene. 1599Sir J. Davies Nosce Teipsum 99 When the shell is broke, out comes a chick. 1657W. Coles Adam in Eden xlii, When her food begins once to appear she [the silkworm] comes forth of her shel. 1692Tryon Good House-wife x. 83 Eggs boyled in the Shells. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 99 The Turtle's Eggs, which I roasted in the Ashes, and eat, as we call it, in the Shell. 1864Englishw. in India 173 Beat the whites of the eggs in a basin... Crush the shells and add them with the wine.
b. in the shell: (of an egg or a bird, etc.) unhatched; also fig., in embryo.
1601Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 34 Thinke him as a Serpents egge,.. And kill him in the shell. 1606― Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 148 If you loue an addle egge as well as you loue an idle head, you would eate chickens i' th' shell. 1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. ii. §101. 91 Some yet are Embrio's, yet hatching, and in the shell; as the Popes infallibility. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. iii. Ad Sec. xvi. 179 Corn for ever in the blade, egges alwaies in the shell. a1659Osborn Observ. Turks Wks. (1673) 278 By the heat of Religion many Vertues are hatched, and more Vices stifled in the shell. 1883S. C. Hall Retrospect II. 71 Embryo poets and artists in the shell. 1897Advance (Chicago) 25 Feb. 242/1 As a writer he is full grown..but as an evolutionist he is still in the shell.
c. In fig. phr. referring to emergence into life; esp. in out of one's shell (with a negative).
1551T. Wilson Logic (1580) 58 b, In this worlde a childe shall scant be out of his shell, but he shall be sure to one, or other. 1593Nashe Christ's T. Wks. 1910 II. 86 My young nouice..not yet crept out of the shell. Ibid. 122 If at the first peeping out of the shell a young Student sets not a graue face on it. 1599Broughton's Lett. 27 Those the..Archbishop..vnfolded..at Cambridge, before thou wert crept out of thy Alphabeticall shell. 1670Baxter Cure Ch. Div. 4 The pride of those that run with the shell on their head into the Ministry. 1808Jamieson s.v., You're scarcely out of the shell yet; a phrase applied to young persons, to those especially who affect something beyond their years. 1837Browning Strafford ii. i, Puritan. His fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. Fiennes. ‘Shall be’? It chips the shell, man,—peeps abroad.
7. a. = nutshell n.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14683 Luytel notes þey toke, & holede þem, þe kerneles out schoke; þey dide y þe schelles fyr & tunder. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cviii. (Bodl. MS.), Aschelle oþer aschale þt waxiþ harder & harder & þer wtin is þe notte curnel. c1400Rom. Rose 7117 As moche as..The sunne sourmounteth the mone,..And the note kernelle the shelle. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 342 The halfe shelles of almonds. a1691Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 178 Almonds of a tender Shell. 1699W. Dampier Voy. II. i. 152 About 100 Nutmegs, which had the Shells on as they grew on the Trees.
Prov.c1375Cursor M. 23828 (Fairf.) Þaire speche is noȝt worþ a shelle [Cott. noght a nute-scell]. 1577Grange Golden Aphrod. I iij b, I see the prouerbe is true: who wil the curnell of the nut must breake the shell. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Coque, Nulle noix sans coque, no nut without a shell.
b. fig. and in fig. context. (See also shall n.)
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 252 After þat bitter barke (be þe shelle aweye), Is a kirnelle of conforte. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋5 Translation it is.. that breaketh the shell, that we may eat the kernel. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 490 All are vaine-glorious, and seeke rather the shell then the kernell, the shew then the substance of holinesse. 1621Laud Diary 3 June, He [the King] was pleased to say, he had given me nothing but [the Deanery of] Gloucester, which he well knew was a shell without a kernel. 1650T. Hubbert Pill Formality 22 Forms are more contended for, then power,..shel more then kernel.
c. The fibre-covered envelope of a coco-nut.
1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 29 The Coco..is cover'd with a thick rynd,..the shell is like the skull of man. 1768Cocoa nut-shell [see coco1 4 e]. 1838Mrs. Browning Rom. Ganges iv, Of shell of coco carven, Each little boat is made. 1891Codrington Melanesians xvi. 316 The cream squeezed out from grated cocoa-nut was often cooked over the embers in the shells.
8. a. The outer covering of a seed, etc.; a husk, pod (e.g. pea-shell); † rind (of pomegranates, etc.); putamen, pericarp.
1561Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 26 Take the wood of Berberis, fyll the upper shell wyth the leaves from it. 1562Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 33 If lentilles be sodden with theyr shelles untaken of. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 389 The powder of vnripe Pomegranat shels. 1611Cotgr., Calicules,..the rough shells of Chestnuts. 1624[see gourd1 4]. 1631Widdowes Nat. Philos. 24 It may be softened by quenching in juyce of beane shuls or mallowes. 1657W. Coles Adam in Eden xcix, Within which fruit [gourd], lie..many seeds, having smooth hard wooddy shells. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 144 The Scarlet-Bean which has a red Husk, and is not the best to eat in the Shell, as Kidney-Beans are usually eaten. 1745Pococke Descr. East II. i. 233 They fill the shell [of coloquintida] with milk, and let it stand some time. 1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 66 Legumen, or shell; a seed-vessel of two valves. 1861Bentley Man. Bot. 301 A strong shell surrounding the seed, called the putamen. 1887Ibid. (ed. 5) 20 The shell or pericarp. 1901T. J. Alldridge Sherbro ii. 15 A great deal of shell [on palm kernels], which of course is useless.
b. The empty case of a fruit.
1902H. L. Wilson Spenders xxvii. 313 Mr. Milbrey glanced at the two shells of the orange which the butler was then removing. 1974Times 20 Apr. 10/8 Grapefruit mixes well with cottage cheese, and you can use the shell to hold the salad.
9. a. The hard covering or ‘house’ of a snail: cf. snail-shell.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxi. 96 Þer er..so grete snyles þat in þaire schelles three men or foure may be herberd. 1530Palsgr. 266/2 Schell of a snayle, cocquille. 1611Cotgr., Caqueroles, the shels of Snayles, Periwincles, and such like. 1766[Anstey] New Bath Guide vi. (1807) 42 As snug as a hodmandod rides in his shell. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 23 In proportion as it grows, the shell encreases in the number of its circles. 1808Med. Jrnl. XIX. 373 The covering or opercle with which they [sc. snails] close up their shell in winter.
b. In fig. phrases, referring to avoidance of society or to a forbidding and an uncommunicative manner.
1815C'tess Granville Lett. (1894) I. 73 Madame de Coigny has difficulty in re-uniting people chez elle, and if one meets a Frenchman there, he draws into his shell and sits in gloomy silence. 1853Earl Lytton Let. to Browning 26 July, I have long ago crept into my shell for good. 1889C. F. M. Bell From Pharaoh to Fellah xiii. 111 Under the soothing influence of coffee and tobacco, he came out of his shell. 1893Vizetelly Glances Back I. vii. 137 [He] rarely spoke unless personally appealed to, and speedily retired into his shell again.
10. a. The hard covering of a tortoise or turtle; the material of which this is composed: cf. tortoiseshell.
1545Elyot Dict., Chelonium, the shell of a torteyse. 1601Holland Pliny vi. xxiv. I. 134 The Chelonophagi, i. such as feed upon the flesh of Tortoises, and the shels of them serve for roufes. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 25 The Sea Tortoise is not much differing from those at land, her house or shell is only flatter. 1726G. Roberts Four Yrs. Voy. 21 They had nothing to pay me for it, but the Turtle, Oil, and Shell which they had made here. 1844Thirlwall Greece VIII. 353 A tortoise, which is safe only so long as it keeps within its shell.
†b. poet. [after L. testudo.] A lyre (in allusion to the legend that the first lyre was a tortoise shell stringed); occas. (cf. lyre1 1 b) put for ‘lyric poetry’. Obs.
[1687Dryden Song St. Cecilia's Day ii, When Jubal struck the corded Shell.] 1746Collins Ode to Pity vii, Till, Virgin, Thou again delight To hear a British Shell! 1769Gray Ode for Music 23 'Twas Milton struck the deep-toned shell. 1821Byron Diary Wks. (1846) 423/1 My brethren of the shell. 1821― Sardan. iii. i. 66 Hast thou thy shell in order? Sing me a song.
11. The integument of an armadillo, glyptodon, ostraciont, etc.; the elytron of an insect; the cast skin of a pupa.
1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) II. 112 This animal [sc. the armadillo] being covered, like a tortoise, with a shell, or rather a number of shells. 1840Swainson & Shuckard Insects §70. 81 An immense assemblage of insects, having..four wings, but of which two are converted into cases or shells (elytra). 1852Dana Crust. ii. 1370 The two elytra-like prolongations of the shell of the third segment of the body [of the Dinematuræ].
II. A shell-shaped object; something concave or hollow.
12. a. Applied gen. to a hollow spherical, hemispherical, or dome-shaped object.
1599Churchw. Acc. Pittington, etc. (Surtees) 276 Whatsoever shall..misforten about the clock, viz., shelles or nutes or such like thinges. a1700Evelyn Diary 27 Feb. 1644, That [jetto] which rises over the greate shell of lead, from whence it glides silently down a channel. 1753De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 5) I. 157 There rises above the Roof a semicircular Dome, which has two Shells,..the outward Shell is Carpentry, covered with Lead. 1759H. Walpole Let. to G. Montagu 2 June, As they were sitting in the shell on my terrace. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam xii. 4630 The boat was one curved shell of hollow pearl. 1850B. Taylor Eldorado iv. (1862) 34 The whole vast shell of the firmament. 1851Ruskin Stones Ven. I. xi. §1 An arch..is a curved shell of firm materials, on whose back a burden is to be laid of loose materials.
b. A thin body bounded by two closely spaced curved surfaces: (a) as a concept in Statics; (b) in Civil Engin., a structural member of this form that has strength by virtue of its shape.
1877G. M. Minchin Treat. Statics xiv. 432 Hence..every shell of uniform density and small thickness, bounded by similar, similarly situated, and concentric surfaces produces a constant potential at all points in its interior. 1892A. E. H. Love Treat. Math. Theory Elasticity I. vii. 221 Consider the case of a spherical shell, whose outer and inner surfaces are subjected to hydrostatic pressure. 1952O. Faber Reinforced Concrete xiii. 192 For clear widths of about 150 ft. and over it is found to be economical to provide arched shells spanning direct, with stiffening ribs at about 25 ft. to 35 ft. centres. 1967H. Kraus Thin Elastic Shells p. vii, Sophisticated uses of shells are currently being made in missiles and space vehicles, submarines, nuclear reactor vessels, refinery equipment, and the like. 1972R. E. Owen Roofs vi. 81 A cylindrical shell transmits direct load to its columns.
c. U.S. A concave structure designed to accommodate a band or orchestra.
1938D. Baker Young Man with Horn i. vi. 71 At the rear of the room was the orchestra shell, very shell-like, fluted along the upper edge. 1978Chicago June 22/2 Each concert will be given on two evenings, and performances will take place..in the new James C. Petrillo Music Shell at Jackson and Columbus.
13. a. A scale of a balance. Sc.
15..Aberd. Reg. (Jam.), A pair of schellis. 1637Rutherford Lett. (1664) 143 Our Lord (who hath all you the Nobles lying in the shell of his ballance). c1730Ramsay Fables, Twa Cats & Cheese 22 He..ca's for the scales..He puts ilk haff in either shell.
†b. The bowl (of a chalice). Obs.
1546Inv. Ch. Goods (Surtees) 134 A chalice, the shelle of silver and gilt, waing iiij ounces.
14. The semicircular guard of a sword, often elaborately worked.
1685Lond. Gaz. No. 2050/4 A Rapier Sword, the Hilt of which was made with a whole Shell. 1692Sir W. Hope Fencing Master 3 The Shell is that part of the Hilt next to the Blade. 1707― New Meth. Fencing iv. §3. 60 The Hilt hath its Pomel, Handle, Shell, and Cross-Barrs. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. lix, I seized his shell, which was close to my breast, before he could disintangle his point. 1826Scott Woodst. xix. The shell of my rapier struck against his ribs. 1869Boutell Arms & Armour ix. 178 This weapon [the rapier] generally has a kind of small basket or shell.
15. The apsidal end of the school-room at Westminster School, so called from its conch-like shape. Hence, the name of the form (intermediate between the fifth and sixth) which originally tenanted the ‘shell’ at Westminster School, and transf. of forms (intermediate between forms designated by numbers) in other public schools; see quots.
1736Gentl. Mag. VI. 679/2 Near these [forms] y⊇ shell's high concave walls appear. 1750Chesterfield Lett. ccxxviii, Observe..what the best scholars in the Form immediately above you do, and so on, till you get into the shell yourself. 1825Southey Life & Corr. (1849) I. 151 He was floated up to the Shell, beyond which the tide carried no one. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. v, The lower fifth, shell, and all the junior forms in order [at Rugby]. 1877W. P. Lennox Celebr. I have known I. 43 The noise grew louder and louder, until the birch was safely deposited in a small room behind the ‘shell’,—so the upper end of the room was called from its shape [Westminster]. 1884Forshall Westm. Sch. 3 The Headmaster faced all the boys excepting the tenants of the ‘Shell’. 1903Blackw. Mag. June 742/2 The third ‘shell’, a form within measurable distance of the lowest in the school [Harrow].
16. The bottom part of a turnip remaining after the root has been scooped out by sheep.
1802Willich Dom. Encycl. IV. 60/2 The shells of turnips which have been suffered to lie on the ground for some time. 1886C. Scott Sheep-farming 49 An active man will, with the assistance of a boy or woman at picking shells, manage 600 full-mouthed sheep.
17. The outer ear; = concha 4 a.
1847Youatt Horse vi. 122 This cartilage, the conch or shell, is attached to the head by ligaments. 1871Darwin Desc. Man I. i. 21 The whole external shell of the ear.
18. a. U.S. A light, narrow, racing-boat.
1867Harper's Mag. Oct. 654/2 Look at these beautiful ‘shells’, resting one above the other on the brackets on either wall. 1873B. Harte What B. Harte Saw in Fiddletown, etc. 98 A shell with its exercising crew. 1894Outing XXIV. 69/2 The first month of rowing in the shell is taken up in coaxing the fractious creature to be steady on its bottom.
b. The floating part of a racing boat; the dug-out portion of a West Indian canoe.
1895Westm. Gaz. 30 Mar. 3/1 After the skin and the ribs, which really constitute the shell of the boat, are finished, we fix the seats and stretchers. 1901Daily Tel. 18 Mar. 7/4 The greater distance between the men necessitated by the slides also involved a longer shell. 1907C. Hill-Tout Brit. N. Amer., Far West vii. 136 The thickness of the shell varies with the size of the vessel, the small [dug-out] canoes being about an inch.
19. a. Miscellaneous technical uses.
e.g.: in casting, the outer wall of the mould; a pump bucket or clack before it is grathed; a concave grinding tool; a thin film of copper forming the face of an electrotype, which is backed with type-metal; see also quots.
1819Reveley Let. to Shelley 12 Nov., So that the melted metal..may..fill up the..space left between the core and the shell, in order to form the desired cylinders. 1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 168 A fluted cylinder called the roller-bowl, encased at its lower and back part within a segment of a hollow cylinder called the shell. 1839Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 311/1 The shells or buckets are fitted with valves opening upwards. Ibid. VII. 370 Two ‘shells’ are to be provided, or what is technically termed the moulding box. 1860Ure's Dict. Arts II. 699 A concave rough grinding tool of cast iron called a shell. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Shell (Weaving), the upper and under shells are the bars of the lay, which are grooved to receive the reed. 1881Maxwell Electr. & Magn. I. 77 An insulated spherical shell concentric with the globe. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Shell, a Russian tool for turning insides of hollow projectiles. 1885Lock in Workshop Rec. Ser. iv. 215/1 A substantial electrotype or shell should be obtained in 10–15 hours. 1898Syd. Soc. Lex., Shells, a term for tinted spectacles for protecting the eyes from bright light.
b. Physics. (A set of electrons forming) one of a number of concentric structures around the nucleus of an atom; spec. a set of electrons each having the same principal quantum number. Also, (a set of nucleons forming) a corresponding structure within a nucleus.
1904J. J. Thomson in Phil. Mag. VII. 255 When the corpuscles [sc. electrons] are not constrained to one plane, but can move about in all directions, they will arrange themselves in a series of concentric shells. 1919Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. V. 252 The electrons in any given atom are distributed through a series of concentric (nearly) spherical shells, all of equal thickness. 1932Physical Rev. XLI. 370/1 For some time, there has been speculation as to whether or not the atomic nucleus can be regarded as consisting of shells of protons, just as the external structure is known to consist of shells of electrons. 1952Sci. News XXIII. 36 Neon has 10 electrons in two complete shells. 1961G. R. Choppin Exper. Nuclear Chem. iii. 30 Frequently, rather than emit a gamma ray, a nucleus will interact with its external electronic shells and cause emission of an electron. 1972Sci. Amer. Oct. 101/1 In nuclei there also is a periodic recurrence of certain properties as nucleons are added to fill successive shells of quantum states. 1974G. Reece tr. Hund's Hist. Quantum Theory viii. 106 The formation of molecules was thus a problem of atomic structure, namely the tendency of atoms to form ions with complete shells.
III. An exterior or enclosing cover or case.
20. a. A covering (of earth, stone, etc.).
1667Primatt City & C. Builder 4 Coal-mines which are covered with a shell of stone about a fathom or more thick. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. iii. 98 Arched over with an exterior Crust or Shell of Earth.
b. The crust of the earth.
a1704Locke Elem. Nat. Philos. viii. (1754) 32 Whatever we fetch from under ground is only what is lodg'd in the shell of the earth. 1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 35 The separation of the land from the waters, mentioned in Genesis: during which operation some places of the shell of the earth were forced outwards. 1869Phillips Vesuv. xii. 331 The inner as well as the outer surface of the earth's crust or shell must be spheroidal.
21. a. A case of metal, etc. in which powder and shot is made up, esp. for use as a hand-grenade.
1644Nye Gunnery ii. (1647) 73 First of all fill these small shels [i.e. granadoes for the hand] with fine Gunpowder. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xiii. 85 To Load them, fill these small Shells with Gun-Powder. [marg.] The Shells are made of Glass, or nelld Clay, or Paper. 1692Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. ii. xvii. 127 How much Powder will fill that Shell? 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Cc 3 b, The shell is a great hollow ball, filled with powder. 1884Milit. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 101 Weight of Shell loaded for service.
b. Hence, an explosive projectile or bomb for use in a cannon or mortar. Also collect. sing.
164.Thomasson Tracts (Brit. Mus.) CCCCXCII. No. 27. 110 They swear they will never fight more against guns that shoot twice, meaning the two cracks, the mortar and the shell. 1695Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 452, 13 mortars were tryed..and approved of, each of them throwing a shell a mile and half. 1767T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. ii. 181 The bomb-ship..plied the French with her shells. 1806A. Duncan Nelson 45 The Thunder..began to throw shells. 1831Sir J. Sinclair Corr. II. 391 A single shell bursting, was seen to put an effectual stop to their whole cavalry in a charge. 1854Tennyson Charge Light Brigade iii, Storm'd at with shot and shell.
c. A cartridge case of paper or metal.
1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 18 Pour it in the paper shells. 1890Leffingwell Wild Fowl Shooting 122 You can get shells at the gunsmith's loaded, or, if you prefer, load them yourself. 1892Greener Breech Loader 171 In America good paper cases, or ‘shells’, are dearer than in England.
d. Pyrotechny. (See quot.)
1878T. Kentish Pyrotechn. Treas. 117 Shells are hollow paper globes, fired vertically, from mortars, or iron tubes.
22. A wooden coffin, esp. a rough or temporary one. Also a thin coffin of lead or other material to be enclosed in a more substantial one.
1788Gentl. Mag. II. 1045 Great abundance of human bones have been unavoidably dug up, most of which have been put into shells. 1799Southey Engl. Ecl. Poet. Wks. III. 45 To slave while there is strength, in age the workhouse, A parish shell at last. 1837Richardson Brit. Legion (ed. 2) viii. 212 Their [Spanish criminals] bodies..were then taken down by the executioner.., and placed in shells. 1855Thackeray Newcomes lv, Look rather at the living audience standing round the shell;—the deep grief on Barnes Newcome's fine countenance. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Shell, a rough coffin to be enclosed in another. 1892Times 4 Feb. 12/2 The leaden shell in which the body..is laid was sealed down and this enclosed in a beautiful olivewood coffin.
23. Miscellaneous uses.
a. Naut. The outer casing of a pulley-block; a thimble dead-eye block used to join the ends of two ropes. b. See quots. 1802, 1853 and cf. shell-jacket (sense 40). Also N. Amer., the unlined body of a coat; U.S., an article of clothing for the upper body, spec. a woman's (usu. sleeveless) overblouse or a light all-weather jacket. c. The outer plating of a boiler. d. Bridge-building. (See quot. 1876.) e. The body of a car.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Shell of a block, the outer frame or case, wherein the sheave or wheel is contained. 1794Rigging & Seamanship I. 149 The shell is made of elm or ash. 1802C. James Milit. Dict., Shell, a short jacket without arms, which was worn by light dragoons. 1839R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Eng. 114 The chief parts of a boiler are the shell, the flues, the furnaces and the steam chest. 1841R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. viii. 44 A made block consists of..the shell..; the sheave..; the pin..; and the strap. 1853Stocqueler Milit. Encycl., Shell, a short jacket without tails. 1876Encycl. Brit. IV. 326 Concrete in a shell is a name which might be applied to all the methods of founding a pier which depend on the..property which strong hydraulic concrete possesses of setting into a solid mass under water. The required space is enclosed by a wooden or iron shell. 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 36 Topmast rigging is sometimes spliced round the shell of the dead eye. 1886St. James's Gaz. 22 Dec. 6/1 He had been measured for..tunics and shells and messing-jackets. 1913T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Semi-Annual Sale 17/3 Men's muskrat-lined coat..Collar is genuine Canadian otter; the shell is cut from standard quality black beaver cloth. 1937Times 13 Apr. (Brit. Motor Suppl.) p. xiii/1 The various stages through which the car body shell can pass, therefore, are as follows. 1962Mademoiselle Aug. 276/2 A white cardigan..to show a matching sleeveless shell. 1967Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. 5/2 (Advt.), 3-pc. acetate double knit suit with rayon metallic shell. 1972Oxford Mail 13 Oct. 1/5 Output of body shells for the Marina range was halted for a time. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 1 May 7/4 (Advt.), Nylon shell for men and women. Ultra light, all weather sports jacket of tough two-ply coated nylon. 1976U. Curtiss Dig Little Deeper x. 89 Paula came in, wearing a topaz-colored pants suit over a ribbed cream shell.
IV. A mere exterior or framework.
24. The external part, exterior, or outward aspect, the externals (of something immaterial).
a1652J. Smith Sel. Disc. i. 10 We must not think we have then attained to the right knowledge of truth, when we have broken through the outward shell of words..that house it up. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ ii. iv. §2 It seems somewhat strange that God should take so great care about the shell and outside of his worship. 1707Reflex. upon Ridicule 204 Cullies, that Judge only by the Shell, and Appearance. 1774Earnest Addr. Methodists (ed. 8) 5 The outward form and shell of religion. 1853Kingsley Hypatia ii, The old Jewish blood still beat true, under all its affected shell of Neo-Platonist nonchalance. 1875Earl Lytton Lett. (1906) I. 335 Words are the shells of ideas. 1889Conan Doyle Micah Clarke i, Among so many there were some whose piety was a shell for their ambition.
25. a. An empty or hollow thing; mere externality without substance.
1791Cowper Yardley Oak 123 All the superstructure..a shell Stands now, and semblance only of itself! 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 426 Nothing but the shell of what was intended for the lasting support of a family of honour. 1829Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 270 Mere effigies and shells of men. 1846New Monthly Mag. Dec. 410 He piously kissed that shell of a departed being. 1871Swinburne Songs bef. Sunrise, Halt bef. Rome 184 How shall the spirit be loyal To the shell of a spiritless thing?
b. A company which has ceased to trade but which is still quoted on the stock exchange.
1964Economist 19 Dec. 1378/2 A company had ceased normal trading and was a pure shell. 1969‘D. Rutherford’ Gilt-Edged Cockpit iv. 68 It's called buying a shell. A tax loss company. When you set the Hackforth loss against our profit we're left with practically no tax to pay. 1981Times 27 May 20/6 Mr Alastair Milne..headed a consortium bidding for former cash shell Phoenix Mining two years ago.
26. a. The outer part of an edifice or fabric, the interior of which has been removed or destroyed.
1657Docum. St. Paul's (Camden) 155 The roofe and floore of the wch howse is fallen downe to the grownd, and lyeth on a heape wthin the shell thereof. 1705Jos. Taylor Journ. Edenb. (1903) 65 The Shell of Cliffords Tower which was blown up in 1684. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. III. 6 Sept., Hard by is the shell of a..Gothick palace. 1865Alex. Smith Summer in Skye I. 34 The red shell of Tantallon speaks to you of the might of the Douglases. 1866Young Fires 59 Nothing remained but the red-hot skeleton or shell of the building. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men I. ii. 288 [She] built herself a stately mansion which was only reduced to a shell in 1794.
b. The skeleton or carcass of a building or a ship.
1705Addison Italy, Naples 202 The Shell of a House, which he had not time to finish. 1761Wesley Jrnl. 29 July (1827) III. 68, I preached..in the shell of the new house. 1814T. Lane Guide Linc. Inn 82 The shells or walls of the several chambers..are insured from fire by the society. 1825J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 580 When the shell of a building is finished, that is, previous to the floors being laid, or the ceilings lathed. 1886C. E. Pascoe Lond. of To-day xxxii. (ed. 3) 295 The shell of the house, of brick, is old; but stone frontages, enlargements, and decorations, were afterwards made. 1900G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 53, I was shown the Great Britain, then a mere shell on the stocks, one of the first iron ships ever built.
c. U.S. A rough, wooden structure, without decoration or furniture.
1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxii. 293 They were mere rude shells, destitute of any species of furniture. 1882Howells in Longman's Mag. I. 48 The edifice was what we call a shell; it was not plastered. 1902Wister Virginian xiii, It [the eating palace] was a shell of wood, painted with golden emblems.
V. A scale or scale-like object.
27. A scale of a fish or reptile; a hard epidermal excrescence. rare.
c893ælfred Oros. iv. viii. 174 Þonne hie mon sloᵹ oþþe sceat, þonne glad hit on þæm scyllum, swelce hit wære smeðe isen. c897― Gregory's Past. C. xlvii. 360 ælces fisces sciell bið to oðerre ᵹefeᵹed. c1000ælfric Lev. xi. 9 Ne ete ᵹe nanne fisc buton þa þe habbað finnas and scilla. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. xl. 94 [Lagartos] their bodies are couered ouer with shels. 1665Hooke Microgr. 184 The leggs.. were all of them cover'd with a strong hairy scale or shel.
28. a. A scale or lamina (of stone, etc.).
13..Guy Warw. xciii. (1891) 454 Nas neuer wepen þat euer was make Þat o schel miȝt þerof take, Na more þan of þe flint. 1645Docum. St. Paul's (Camden) 144 Whit marble in block and shels 140 fo[ot]. 1833–4J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 592/1 Such flagstones..are much liable to scale off in irregular ‘shells’.
†b. A lamina (of bone). Obs.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 86 Neuere þe lattere kynde wole afterward don awey a schelle of þilke same boon, nouȝt aȝenstondynge þi schauynge. 1656Ridgley Pract. Physic 171 A Contusion when the bone is pressed down; yet so, that it is not broken into many shells.
†29. pl. Scurf; = scale n.2 2. Obs.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 189 Furfurea ben a maner of squamis .i. schellis þat comeþ of brennyng þat is in þe skyn. 1527Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters C iv b, The hede often enointed with the same..withdryveth the shelles from the hede.
30. Any of the thin pieces of metal composing scale-armour; = scale n.2 7 a.
1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. iii. 115 b, They had..vppon their bodies curates of shelles of diuers colours. 1849J. Grant Mem. Sir W. Kirkaldy ix. 85 They wore the most splendid armour of the age, with surcoats or hoquetons covered with shells of silver gilt.
†31. Cant. (pl.) Money. Obs.
1592Greene Conny Catch. i. C 2 The purse, the Bong, The monie, the Shels. Ibid. ii. D j b, The farmer..mist his purse, searcht for it, but lining and shels & all was gone. 1611Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl v. i. L j b, 'Tis a question whether there bee any siluer shels amongst them, for all their sattin outsides.
†32. pl. Fragments. Obs. rare.
1560Rolland Seven Sages 54 The Falcon..russillit & rang hir bellis, Almaist scho had al schakin þame in schellis.
33. An epaulette; = scale n.2 9.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxvii, The Captain, with shells on his frock-coat.
VI. Attributive uses and Combinations.
34. In sense 1:
a. Simple attrib., as shell-colour, shell-covering, shell-layer, etc.
1865Swinburne Chastelard ii. i. 67 Bright pink, the *shell-colour. 1890Hardwicke's Sci. Gossip XXVI. 179/1 The evolution of the shell-colour.
1612Daborne Christian turn'd Turke i. ii. C 2 Poore fishers brat, that neuer didst aspire Aboue a musle boate,..That..didst smell Worse then thy *shell commodity at midsummer.
1854Woodward Mollusca 318 The external *shell-layer consists of fusiform cells.
1847–9Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 562/2 The various examples of *shell-membrane.
1835–6Ibid. I. 548/2 The inner sides of the *shell-muscles.
1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 252 *Shell Net.
1886A. Winchell Geol. Talks 193 In Lamellibrachs the *shell-outline is not the same on each side of the beak.
1857J. G. Wood Com. Obj. Sea Shore 24 Upon this leathery mantle are placed eight *shell-plates, which overlap each other.
1854Woodward Mollusca 287 The *shell-wall is removed by weathering.
b. Objective and objective genitive, as shell-cleaner, shell-eater, shell-eating, shell-monger, etc.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Shell-cleaner, a person who makes a business of cleansing and scouring shells.
1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 17 Our most exact and industrious *shell-collectors.
1880A. R. Wallace Isl. Life v. 77 Such species as are especially *shell-eaters.
1857Livingstone Trav. xiv. 252 Clouds of a black *shell-eating bird, called linongolo.
1850British Museum (Chambers) 192 *Shell-engraving, however, under the name of Conchylie, is now carried on..in Italy.
1748Chesterfield Let. to Son 6 Dec., The..tribes of insect-mongers, *shell-mongers, and pursuers and driers of butterflies.
c. Parasynthetic, instrumental, etc., as shell-borne, shell-burred, shell-housed, shell-wrought, etc. adjs.
1818Keats Endym. iii. 237 O *shell-borne Neptune.
1896Kipling Seven Seas, Deep-Sea Cables, The great grey level plains of ooze where the *shell-burred cables creep.
1835–6Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 549/1 The *shell-clad Nautilus.
1883Good Words 113 Gorgeous articles of native dress, feather-tasseled, *shell-fringed, coral-beaded.
1600J. Lane Tom Tel-troth 506 The *shell-housde snaile.
1624Quarles Sion's Elegies (1717) 395 In roughest tides his *shell-prepared brest Untoucht with danger, finds a haven of rest.
1613–16W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. i. 3 Now with his hands..The Swaine attempts to get the *shell-strewd shores.
1856Stanley Sinai & Pal. vi. (1858) 261 The *shell-strewn beach.
1741Boyse Patience 182 Sweet was each *shell-wrought bowl. 1747Mason Ode to Water Nymph 38 Yon shell-wrought terras.
d. Similative, as shell-curved, shell-formed, shell-grey, shell-pink, shell-red, etc.; also shell-like adj. and adv., shell-wise adv.
1901Lady Dilke Fr. Furnit. 18th Cent. 48 The *shell-curved lines which maintain their decorative value in the Salle à manger.
c1800Leyden Mermaid liv, The *shell-formed lyres of ocean ring.
1963Times 8 June 12/3 Short dresses of *shell-grey silk with flared skirts.
1692Ray Disc. 132 There are found not only *shell-like stones, but real shells. 1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 46 Of the ..Rooms..the lesser ones are arch'd shell-like. 1827Hood Bianca's Dream 242 Her small and shell-like ear. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 917 Shell-like plates of varying size with scalloped margins.
1887Daily News 19 May 5/6 Lined with *shell-pink satin. 1932J. C. Powys Glastonbury Romance ii. xxi. 701 The new silk lining of her ottoman had dyed itself..into an incredible shell-pink. 1951E. Paul Springtime in Paris xii. 229 Anatole turned shell pink, then a kind of raspberry shade. 1977‘E. Anthony’ Silver Falcon (1978) 133 The house was..painted shell-pink.
1891‘O. Thanet’ Otto the Knt., etc. 311 Shades of gray and purple and *shell-red.
1835Willis Pencillings I. v. 34 The three *shell-shaped squares in the centre of the city.
1552in Kempe Losely MSS. (1836) 88 Makinge the same [feathers] into greate plumes, to stand *shell-wise over⁓thwarte the hed peces of the worthyes of the Greekes.
35. In various senses of branch I, passing into adj.
a. Of an animal, fruit, etc.: Having a shell; see also shell-fish, -snail.
c1440Promp. Parv. 443/2 Schale notys, and oþer schelle frute. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Shell-fish, Bonetus observes, That Shell Animals have no Diversity of Sex. 1839T. Mitchell Frogs of Aristoph. Introd. p. cxviii, The pots containing the seeds or shell-fruits. 1859–62Sir J. Richardson, etc. Mus. Nat. Hist. (1868) II. 353 The genus Testacellus or Shell-slug. 1870Kingsley At Last xvii, Their shell-fauna is of a Mexican and Central American type.
b. Of geological formations or deposits: Consisting wholly or largely of (sea)shells (esp. in a triturated or powdery state, shell-gravel, shell-grit, shell-marl, shell-sand).
(Cf. shale marl, 1682, s.v. marl n.1 1 b.)
1587L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Oxen (1596) 43 The shell stones (that lie in arable landes..) first burnt, and then beaten into fine powder. 1692A. Symson Descr. Galloway (1823) 94 As for lime they are supplyed from the Shell-bank of Kirkinner. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Shell-sand, a name given by the farmers, in some parts of England, to the fragments of shells found on the sea-shores, and ground to a sort of powder, so that they resemble sand. 1759Mills tr. Duhamel's Husb. i. viii. 29 This author seems never to have seen shell-marle. 1765J. Bartram Jrnl. 25 Dec. (1766) 7 This shell-bluff is 300 yards more or less along the river's bank. 1827G. Higgins Celtic Druids 138 The coarse shell-limestone, which immediately covers the chalk strata in the neighbourhood of Paris. 1850Ansted Elem. Geol., Min. etc. Gloss., Shell marl, a deposit of clay, peat, and silt, mixed with shells, which collects at the bottom of fresh water lakes. 1850Dana Min. 208 Fire marble or lumachelle is a dark brown shell marble. 1854A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 589 Shell-beds are formed of dead and drifted shells, heaped together by tides and currents. 1855Kingsley Heroes, Perseus iv, Shell-drifts bleaching in the sunshine. 1882W. D. Hay Brighter Britain! I. xi. 307 A straight, broad path, smooth and white with shell-gravel. 1922Joyce Ulysses 48 Loose sand and shellgrit crusted her bare feet. 1938Shell-grit [see rouletted pa. pple. b]. 1964Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. II. 418 Spatangus purpureus..lives in shell-gravel. 1977Stornoway Gaz. 27 Aug. 4/9 These are well worth looking for in June or July in the grassland behind our many shell-sand beaches.
c. Of an artificial structure, vessel, etc.: Consisting or formed of a shell or shells; made from a shell or shells; ornamented with shells; (of a road, U.S.), having a bed or layer of shells.
1627May Lucan ix. Q 8 b, Whose shrill shell-trumpett seas and shores doo heare. 1637Nabbes Microcosmus iv. F j b, From a rock That weeps a running christall she [sc. Temperance] doth fill Her shell cup. 1699Potter Antiq. Greece iii. ix. 87 Triton's Shell-trumpet is famous in Poetical Story. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Shell, The effects of this shell-manure. 1756M. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitland Club) 153 The gardens are of great extent, with..shell grottos. 1836T. Power Impressions of Amer. II. 99 We soon gained the shell road however, and found it as good as the streets of Mobile. 1844Mrs. Houston Yacht Voy. Texas II. 17 There are but two drives in the neighbourhood of New Orleans—the old and new ‘Shell Roads’... They are..thickly covered..with small sea shells. 1845J. Coulter Adv. in Pacific xiii. 169 Bone or shell ear-rings. 1851S. P. Woodward Mollusca i. 46 The makers of shell-cameos avail themselves of this difference [of colour] to produce white or rose-coloured figures on a dark ground. 1853C. Brontë Villette III. xxxi. 35 Slipping into his hand the ruddy little shell box. 1878B. Harte Man on Beach 55 Two or three highly-colored prints, a shell workbox, a ghastly winter bouquet of skeleton leaves and mosses. 1888E. Custer Tenting on Plains ix, The shell drive along the ocean. 1904W. Churchill Crossing iii. v, A white shell walk divided the garden. 1976J. Fleming To make Underworld ii. 21 She makes these shell boxes, y'know..all stuck over with shells.
d. Of an implement: Hollow, or having a concave part.
1823P. Nicholson Pract. Builder 254 The Taper-shell⁓bit is used for widening holes. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 179 The first tool used is an auger; the shell part..four inches in diameter. 1875Carpentry & Join. 31 For rough work..the shell augur alone is used.
e. Of the shape of a shell; (of material, trimming, etc.) having a shell pattern.
1774in Amer. Hist. Rev. (1899) V. 311 She is drest in a neat shell Callico Gown. 1780J. Wedgwood Let. 21 Oct. (1965) 260, I now expect to sell a good deal of his green shell pattern. 1840Mrs. Gaugain Lady's Assist. Knitting 142 Shell pattern, or half square for a quilt or counterpane. 1869Mrs. Whitney We Girls v, Shell-trimmings and flutings. 1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 92 Shell Couching, a Flat Couching, in which the securing stitches are arranged in half curves, and bear some resemblance to the shape of a scallop shell. 1885W. J. E. Crane Bookbinding xiii. 101 The pattern called large brown French, or shell pattern. 1894Daily News 26 Apr. 9/1 ‘The shell chair’, which is like a scallop shell. 1897Private Life of Queen xxii. 180 The enormous ‘shell pattern’ service of knives, forks and spoons. 1967E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage iii. 68 Aluminium templates can be bought in a number of geometric shapes and also a shell pattern.
f. Made of tortoise-shell. ? U.S.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Shell-comb, a lady's comb for the hair, or a toilet comb, made of tortoiseshell. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Shell-piece, one of the shields of tortoise-shell or horn, used with spring eye-glasses which clasp the nose. 1896Harper's Mag. XCII. 808/1 She replaced the dagger with a shell pin from her own hair.
36. In sense 21:
a. Simple attrib., as shell-burst, shell crater, shell-fire, shell fougasse, shell-gun, shell-hole, shell-madness, shell-room, shell-shop, shell-splinter, shell-storm, shell-trap, etc.;
b. objective, as shell-dodging, etc.; shell-filling, shell-firing adjs.;
c. advb., as shell-pitted, shell-pocked, shell-proof, shell-smitten, shell-stricken, shell-torn adjs.
1917W. Owen Let. 2 Mar. (1967) 440 Did you see any *shell-bursts? 1980G. M. Fraser Mr American xxvi. 556 It wis a shell-burst that Ah stopped.
1916‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 49 The neutral ground..was a sea of mud, broken by heaped earth and yawning *shell craters. 1977J. Cleary High Road to China i. 32, I..was trapped in a shell crater with three dead men.
1917‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 241 Freed from the immediate necessity of *shell-dodging.
1868Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munit. War 31 The carrier-block moves the *shell-drawer and causes it to draw out the discharged shell from the chamber.
1884Milit. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 101 A *shell-filling room.
1900W. S. Churchill in Morning Post 25 June 5/7 In spite of an accurate *shellfire they continued to advance boldly against the highest part of the hill. 1977Listener 28 Apr. 559/2 They had had built a reinforced concrete pillbox—a shelter against the shrapnel and the unceasing shellfire.
1858Greener Gunnery 132 *Shell firing was next tried at a distance of 1,500 yards. 1900W. S. Churchill in Morning Post 1 Jan. 6/1 The shell-firing Maxim continued its work. 1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 16 May 15 These include..constant-speed 3-blade propeller; shell-firing guns; wireless and oxygen equipment.
1834J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. 207 *Shell Fougasses.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Shell-gage (Ordnance), an instrument for verifying the thickness of hollow projectiles.
1858Greener Gunnery 135 The accurate and long-range firing of such rifled *shell-guns. 1940Flight 12 Dec. 522/2 The shell-gun or ‘cannon’ has been in action mounted in the machines of Fighter Command.
1889Welch Text Bk. Naval Archit. xii. 132 The *shell hoist..is provided with a cowl.
1916‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 141 The stretcher-bearers who lifted him from the *shell-hole. 1971S. Hill Strange Meeting iii. 203 Then suddenly they came between the stumps of some trees, dropped down into a shell hole.
1923Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 329 A dazed day of ‘*shell-madness’, when all ears and eyes were intolerably overburdened with echoes and pictures.
1918W. S. Churchill Let. 12 Sept. in M. Gilbert W. S. Churchill (1975) IV. i. vii. 147 For an hour we ran through devastated, *shell pitted facias—scraggy shreds of woods.
1925Scribner's Mag. Sept. 234/2 Only the 49th lay perforce in the open, on a bleak, *shell-pocked slope.
1864Webster, *Shell-proof, capable of resisting bomb shells.
1805Shipwright's Vade-M. 130 *Shell-rooms, a compartment in a bomb-vessel, fitted up with shelves to receive bomb-shells when charged.
1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 16 The *shell-shop, where they [shells] are taken in and finished.
1917J. Masefield Old Front Line 71 It has been more burnt and *shell-smitten than most parts of the lines.
1910W. S. Churchill in R. S. Churchill W. S. Churchill (1967) I. Compan. ii. 1071 The driver..was wounded severely in the scalp by a *shell-splinter almost immediately. 1974N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 137 He had been ripped by a shell splinter and sewn up casually.
1903,1914*Shell-storm [see rafale].
1901‘Linesman’ Words by Eyewitness iii. (1902) 40 The most *shell-stricken kopje in South Africa.
1891Kipling Light that Failed ii, A clump of *shell-torn bodies. 1918W. Owen Let. 4 Jan. (1967) 525 He was badly wounded, and..still wears the shell-torn boots. 1949S. Spender Edge of Being 24 Moving in death through shell-torn tenements.
1879Encycl. Brit. IX. 461/2 Such *shell-traps..are scrupulously avoided by modern [military] engineers. 1923Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 97 Annequin..had become more than ever a shell-trap.
1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 29 Now that steel is used instead of iron the *shell-wall is much thinner.
37. In sense 15.
1833Quart. Jrnl. Educ. V. 40 Fifth Form... Shell Form... Sixth Form. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. v, It was the prescribed quantity of Homer for a shell lesson. 1867W. L. Collins Public Sch., Westm. viii. 178 At the end of this room [the schoolroom] there is a kind of semicircular apse, in which the ‘shell’ form were formerly taught.
38. In sense 18: Of boats of a light racing form; hence of a race rowed by such boats.
1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. vii, A ‘skeleton’ or ‘shell’ race-boat. 1873Forest & Stream 25 Sept. 108/1 A new four-oared shell boat. Ibid., A four-oared shell race.
39. In sense 25 b: shell company, shell corporation, shell game, shell operation, shell transaction.
1958Economist 15 Mar. 957/1 Shell companies have nothing to do with oil. They are corporate entities empty of their trading assets; they hold only cash or near cash assets in their balance sheets and otherwise have nothing but a stock exchange quotation—which is essential. 1977Irish Press 29 Sept. 7/7 It was in April 1972 that Fitzwilliam Resources, of the same stock that formed Fitzwilliam Securities and Fitzwilton Ltd., (the Irish ‘shell’ company, which is now a shadow of its former self), took a 6 per cent stake in Tara.
1969Wall St. Jrnl. 3 July 4/2 The Securities and Exchange Commission said it's disturbed by the increasing use of inactive ‘shell’ corporations as vehicles for distributing unregistered stock to the public. 1974A. A. Thompson Swiss Legacy xx. 204 They are shell corporations... They have no assets, no activities, nothing. They are merely conduits for money going elsewhere.
1969N.Y. Rev. Books 2 Jan. 42/3 What becomes almost obscene about such a reactionary shell game..is that these very same corporate chiefs are right now planning an increase in unemployment. 1977F. Branston Up & Coming Man xi. 108 A shell operation, where you buy a dormant or nearly defunct company and inject assets into it.
1958Spectator 11 July 68/3 This should put a stop to ‘shell’ transactions.
40. a. Special comb.: shell-back, (a) jocular, a sailor, esp. a hardened or experienced one; also transf.; (b) a marine turtle; hence shell-backed a.; shell-bake v., to overheat an egg that is being incubated so as to kill (the bird); shell beach, a beach composed wholly or predominantly of sea-shells; spec. the name of one such on the Channel Island of Herm; shell-bearing a., = conchiferous 1 and 2; shell-bird, (a) Canada, the red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator; (b) nonce-use, a tortoise; shell-blow, a call blown on a horn made of a large species of shell (e.g. a conch-shell); so shell-blowing; † shell-bread, a kind of bread or biscuit baked in large mussel-shells; shell-breaker, an instrument used in lithotomy; shell-briar a., designating a type of tobacco-pipe with a rough, dark-stained stem and bowl; shell button (see quots.); † shell-cap, ? a lace cap of shell pattern; shell cocoa, the husks of cocoa-beans or the drink made from an infusion of these; shell concrete Building, concrete used in shell construction; shell construction Building, the use of thin curved shells (sense 12 b above) to roof areas having wide spans; shell egg, an egg in its natural state in the shell (opp. to dried egg: cf. dried ppl. a. 1); shell-fire dial., phosphorescence or lambent fire seen enveloping or issuing from bodies (see quots.); shell-flowers, ‘ornaments made with small shells, plain or coloured’ (1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade); shell-game U.S., a sleight-of-hand swindling game in which a small object is concealed under a walnut shell or the like, and bets are made as to which shell the object is under; also fig.; shell-gland, (a) an excretory organ beneath the shell in the lower crustaceans; (b) the shell-secreting gland of a mollusc; shell-gold [see sense 2 e], gold for painting or writing, laid in a mussel-shell; shell-gritted a. Archæol., denoting a ware made of a paste mixed with particles of shell; shell-heap, a mound of domestic remains consisting mainly of refuse shells accumulated by aborigines who subsisted on shell-fish; shell-hearing, in ‘psychical research’, the induction of hallucinatory voices by listening with the ear to the aperture of a shell; † shell-house, a grotto; shell ice Canad. = cat-ice s.v. cat n.1 18; shell-jacket, an undress tight-fitting military jacket, short in the back; shell-keep, a form of Norman keep built on a mound (usually the site of an older fortress); shell-lime, lime made by burning sea-shells; shell-man U.S., a swindler who plays the shell-game; † shell-meat, edible shell-fish; shell midden Archæol. = shell-heap; † shell-mine (see quot.); shell model Nuclear Physics, a theoretical description of nuclear structure in which the nucleus is considered to consist of nucleons arranged in shells (sense 19 b); shell-money = wampum; shell-moulding vbl. n., in Founding, a method of making moulds and cores in which a shell of resin-bonded sand is formed in parts around a heated metal pattern, the parts being joined together after removal of the pattern; so shell-mould, a mould made in this way; shell-mound = shell-heap; † shell-naked a., ? as bare as an eggshell; shell-paste, thin paste for lining a pie-dish, etc.; shell-plate, one of the plates forming the outer shell of a vessel, boiler, etc.; so shell-plating; shell-pump = sand-pump (see sand n.2 10); shell rock N. Amer., hard rock consisting largely of compacted sea-shells; shell-roll (see quot.); shell roof, a roof consisting of a shell (sense 12 b above); shell-sac = shell-gland (b); shell shock, (a) a name given, esp. during the war of 1914–18, to certain psychological disturbances occurring in conditions of active warfare and supposed to result primarily from exposure to shell-fire; also fig.; (b) slang, cocoa; hence shell-shock v. trans., to affect with shell shock; shell-shocked a., suffering from shell shock; shell-shocker, a sufferer from shell shock; shell-sickness, a disease in sheep characterized by shell-like thickenings in the intestines; † shell-silver, silver for painting, etc. in the same form as shell-gold; shell steak, a steak cut from the short loin; shell-stick, a stick with a shell on the end used as a weapon by some Australian aborigines; shell-stitch, one of various knitting or sewing stitches producing shell-like patterns; shell structure Physics, the structure of the atom envisaged as consisting of a number of electron shells (sense 19 b above); shell-suit, a suit of clothes consisting of tight-fitting trousers buttoning on to a tunic; † shell-tooth, any of the teeth of a horse which bear the mark; also adj. = † shell-toothed a. (see quots.); shell transformer, a shell-type transformer (see below); shell-type n. and a., (applied to) something having or resembling a shell in any sense; shell-type transformer, a transformer having its windings wholly or largely enclosed within the metal ‘core’.
1853J. T. Downey Filings from Old Saw (1956) vi. 30 Both the nerve of 14 strong armed *shell-backs, and the occasional disbursement of an extra tot of whiskey, kept her going. 1883W. C. Russell Jack's Courtship i, It takes a sailor a long time to..get quit of the bold sheer that earns him the name of shell-back. 1891–4Stevenson in G. Balfour Life (1911) 249 The arrival of strange old shell-back guests out of every quarter of the island world. 1905A. I. Shand Days of Past iii. 38 The shellbacks from the Caribbean Sea or Ascension floating in the tanks. 1943A. Ransome Picts & Martyrs xi. 103 He felt as if he was going to sit for an examination and he wanted to make no mistakes with those two old shellbacks, Nancy and Peggy, as examiners. 1959J. Cary Captive & Free 207 The old hulk was full of crabs—there doesn't seem to be anything else in the sub-editor's room. Old shellbacks that have been chewing on Fowler for forty years. 1963Listener 21 Feb. 350/3, I have no doubt a lot of right-wing shell-backs are now conceding, with blimpish magnanimity, that there's really something to be said for these young fellows after all. 1974Times 9 Dec. 13/3 In both division lobbies right-wingers rubbed shoulders with left-wingers, shellbacks with parliamentary apprentices.
1930R. Campbell Adamastor 30 A *shell-backed saint, whom time maroons. 1972Daily Tel. 29 Dec. 7/8 Mr Marcus is always eloquent when he is contrasting innocence with shell-backed experience.
1817J. Mayer Sportman's Direct. (ed. 2) 54 The silk hens are the best for the act of incubation, the heat of the common hens being apt to *shellbake the birds in the eggs.
1835H. D. Inglis Channel Islands 323 Herm possesses another attraction,..its *shell beach. 1915E. R. Lankester Diversions of Naturalist 144 The shells which are accumulated as shell-beaches have come from animals which lived in quantity at depths of ten or twenty fathoms. 1964H. Myhill Introducing Channel Islands v. 114 It is possibly the situation of this beach..which has led to the accumulation there of countless thousands of shells of great variety. There are said to be over five hundred distinct species represented, and they have given it the name of the Shell Beach.
1844Athenæum 5 Oct. 902/3 A species of *shell-bearing annelid, the Ditrupa. 1880A. R. Wallace Isl. Life 168 Shell-bearing gravels.
1770G. Cartwright Jrnl. 2 Oct. (1792) I. 40 They returned with three *shellbirds and a saddleback. 1921D. H. Lawrence Tortoises 12 Nay, tiny shell-bird, What a huge vast inanimate it is, that you must row against. 1973E. Goudie Woman of Labrador ii. iv. 102 Shell birds are not very good eating because they taste very fishy.
1828Life Planter Jamaica 50 This mode of working continued till *shell-blow at half past one by the sun-dial. 1861G. Blyth Remin. Miss. Life ii. 54 At noon or, as it was called, the shellblow time.
1869Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 178 All sounds of *shell-blowing had ceased.
1665R. May Accomplisht Cook (ed. 2) 274 To make *Shell Bread.
1830S. Cooper Dict. Pract. Surg. (ed. 6) 815 For small stones..the ‘*shell-breaker’ only is used.
1972M. J. Bosse Incident at Naha i. 17 He..lit a pipe, his largest *shell-briar Apple. 1977A. Scholefield Venom v. 203 The chubby face, from which the fragrant bowl of a shell-briar emerged.
1789Deb. Congr. U.S. 29 Aug. (1834) 796 An exclusive patent..for manufacturing *shell buttons of different dimensions. 1834–6Barlow Manuf. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 608 Shell buttons are those which consist of a back made of bone without any shank but corded with catgut. 1851–4Tomlinson's Cycl. Usef. Arts (1867) I. 263/1 Buttons in which the convex front is closed in behind with another piece of metal, also convex on the outer surface, but less so than the front. These are called shell buttons.
1794Mrs. Piozzi Brit. Synon. I. 359 She gained about 350l. 'tis said, and laid out two hundred of the money instantly in a *shell-cap.
1902J. T. Law Law's Grocer's Man. (ed. 2) 1170/2 *Shell cocoa. 1909J. Joyce Let. 21 Aug. (1966) II. 238, I sent Nora a stone of shell cocoa. Pay the duty on it which cannot be high and see that Nora takes it every morning and evening. 1922W. B. Yeats Trembling of Veil ii. xiii. 119 She had lived for many weeks upon bread and shell-cocoa, so that her food never cost her more than a penny a day.
1949Archit. Rev. CVI. 302/2 The boiler house, which has a *shell-concrete roof. 1958Times 23 Sept. 16/3 The structures he [sc. Candela] has designed there—mostly in shell-concrete—have begun to attract attention far outside Mexico.
1946Archit. Rev. C. 8 The roofs of the canteen and the concert studio are of *shell construction, 4·8 in. thickness. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia IV. 1078/1 Shell construction, where the strength of a thin curved concrete membrane is used advantageously to produce a light and aesthetic roof capable of bridging wide spaces without appreciable bending.
[1942Sun (Baltimore) 18 Feb. 24/7 There are, according to experts, three kinds of markets for eggs—shell (direct-to-consumer variety), frozen and dried.] 1943E. Oliver Night Thoughts of Country Landlady viii. 60 Before buying the very small but essential allowance of grain required to make these hens lay, you must hand over your coupons for ‘*Shell Eggs’. 1949S. Gibbons Matchmaker i. 11 On Tuesday we have bacon and egg pie, Father, and on Wednesday boiled shell eggs. 1972Guardian 24 Mar. 10/8 Present minimum import prices for shell eggs and for..dried whole egg are to continue unchanged.
1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 138 A bright flame was always considered as a fortunate omen, whether it were a real one issuing from an altar, or a seeming one (what we call *shell-fire) from the head of a living person. 1787Grose Prov. Gloss. Suppl., Fairy-sparks, or Shel-fire, electric sparks, often seen on clothes at night. Kent. 1847Halliwell, Shell-fire, the phosphorescence sometimes exhibited in farm-yards, &c., from decayed straw, &c. or touch⁓wood.
1738–9Mrs. Delany Autobiogr. (1861) II. 37, I wish you could safely send me the antique shell nosegay; I am going to fill a glass case with *shell-flowers.
1890B. Hall Turnover Club 169 Would endeavour to make a collection of Japanese coins, with their cards and a *shell game. 1899Philistine ix. 157 All the people who work the filological shell-game. 1942Sun (Baltimore) 19 Mar. 19/6 The defendant pleaded innocent to charges of operating a shell game. 1972Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Dec. 1570/1 Both memory and history are shell games. 1977Rolling Stone 21 Apr. 88/2 Both of them create with the sleight of hand of a shell-game swindler.
1877Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. vi. 268 At the sides of the latter [carapace], two coiled tubes with clear contents, the so-called *shell-glands, are seen. 1883E. Ray Lankester in Encycl. Brit. XVI. 639/2 The embryonic shell-sac or shell-gland.
1573Art of Limning fo. iiij, If you will buye at the Potecaries *shell golde or shell silver, with the which (being tempered with gumme water) you may verye well write with a pen. 1675A. Browne App. Art of Limning 25 Cover over the Rais'd Work with the finest Shell Gold. 1758Dossie Handmaid Arts 391 When the gold powders are used along with paintings in water colours, it is previously formed into shell gold... This shell gold is prepared by tempering the gold powder with very weak gum water. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 803 When great brilliancy is not wanted, shell-gold may be used instead of gold leaf, to gild upon the size.
1954S. Piggott Neolithic Cultures iii. 108 A bowl of typically ‘Abingdon’ *shell-gritted ware from Great Ponton in south Lincolnshire. 1965I. F. Smith Windmill Hill & Avebury v. 50 The heavier rims are decorated more often than the simple and rolled rims, and shell-gritted ware more often than flint-gritted.
1882E. A. Barber in Amer. Antiq. IV. 201 Mr. Tooker informs me further that he has found perfect clay pipes on *shell heaps and on the sites of aboriginal villages.
1893Tablet 22 July 126 Miss X who is understood to be very gifted..in crystal vision and in *shell-hearing.
a1700Evelyn Diary 27 Feb. 1644, A grotto, or *shell house. 1756T. Amory Buncle (1825) I. 46 The operation required in a shell-house.
1875United Service Mag. CXXXIX. 42 [It] is brittle and bad for skating, ‘*shell-ice’ as it is called. 1977Globe & Mail (Toronto) 9 Mar. 36/7 Travel isn't too good. There's shell ice with pockets of water underneath and flooding around the cracks and heaves, but no actual danger yet.
1840E. E. Napier Scenes & Sports For. Lands II. iv. 114 As travellers, unprovided with our traps, we appeared there in *shell jackets. 1868Queen's Regul. Army §608 The ‘surplus kit’..being carried in the squad bags,..viz.: 1 shell jacket, 1 pair socks, 1 shirt, 1 towell [etc.].
1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. 197 The true castle of Montgomery..no square donjon, but a vast *shell-keep on a mighty mound.
1793Smeaton Edystone L. §189 *Shell Lime, that is, Cockle or other shells burnt. 1875W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 39 The antiquity of this very thick old wall is seen from its stones having been run together with hot shell-lime.
1902Daily Chron. 24 Sept. 5/2 The *shell-man whom she hired was the success of the evening, and gallantly handed back the bills of large denominations which the guests passed over to him in making their bets, ‘just for fun.’
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xi. 402 Sacraments, like to *shelmeats, may be eaten after fowl hands, without any harm.
1924Proc. Prehist. Soc. 1923–24 IV. ii. 206 Directly resting upon the brickearth was a *shell midden. 1971Nature 11 June 397/2 Between 1881 and 1913 three Mesolithic ‘shell midden’ sites were excavated on the Island of Oronsay in the Inner Hebrides.
1645–52Boate Irel. Nat. Hist. (1860) 106 The Mine hath the name of..*Shell-mine for the following reason: for this stuff or Oar being neither loose..as earth.., neither firm..as stone, is of a middle substance..composed of shells or scales.
1946Physical Rev. LXIX. 538 On the *shell model the radius should be equal to Gamow's radius plus the radius of the alpha-particle. 1970I. E. McCarthy Nuclear Reactions i. iv. 83 The independent particle model for finite nuclei is the shell model.
1851J. F. W. Johnston Notes N. Amer. II. 465 From the purple interior of this shell the wampum or *shell-money of the Indians was prepared.
[1947F.I.A.T. Final Rep. No. 1168 (Brit. Intelligence Objectives Sub-Comm.) 2 Such a bed helps the thin mold shell resist the hydrostatic pressure of the influent liquid metal.] 1950Materials & Methods Aug. 45/3 For the investigation of the metallurgical characteristics of the tin bronze alloys as affected by plastic bonded *shell molds, a master pattern plate is being utilized. 1973J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. II. ii. 39 Since, for simplicity, a shell mould is made up from two, outer shell parts, it is not always possible to build in the best pouring channel system.
1951Iron Age 15 Nov. 111/1 The Builders Iron Foundry has been working with the Croning Process, or *shell molding method of producing castings. 1979J. Neely Pract. Metall. & Materials of Industry xxiv. 325/2 The advantages of shell molding over other forms of sand casting are that high precision, good finishes, and more complex shapes are possible, and less machining is needed.
1851D. Wilson Preh. Ann. I. i. (1863) 36 Ancient *shell-mounds, the supposed kitchen refuse of the aborigines. 1865Lubbock Preh. Times 185 ‘Shell-mound’ axes. 1879― Sci. Lect. v. 156 The dog is the only domestic animal found in the shell-mounds.
1681Cotton Wond. Peak 33 A Goose..Which out of Peaks-Arse..was seen *Shell-naked sally, rifled of her plume.
1764E. Moxon Eng. Housew. (ed. 9) 86 Make a little *shell-paste, and line your tins.
1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xix. 422 The sides of the poop and forecastle to be one third lighter than the *shell plates amidships. 1899Daily Tel. 18 Jan. 6/6 Shell-plate boilers improve as time goes on.
1894W. H. White Man. Naval Arch. (ed. 3) 333 Iron or steel ships have comparatively thin *shell-plating stiffened by transverse and longitudinal frames.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Shell-pump, a tube with a clack-valve at its foot, used for removing the detritus from a bored shaft.
1807J. Barlow Columbiad ix. 321 And mark thy native orb!.. What an age her *shell-rock ribs attest! 1837J. L. Williams Territory of Florida 56 The bank is formed of concrete shell rock. 1935H. Davis Honey in Horn xvi. 261 The road under the horses' feet was black shellrock.
1892J. Nasmith Students' Cotton Spinning 164 The top rollers are almost universally made for the front line of a drawing frame of the Leigh loose boss type. This is called in America the ‘*shell roll’.
1954G. Magnel Prestressed Concrete (ed. 3) x. 303 (caption) Prestressed beams for *shell roof. 1972R. E. Owen Roofs vi. 91 Most shell roofs are easy to drain to their edges or ends.
1883E. Ray Lankester in Encycl. Brit. XVI. 639 In very few instances..the primitive *shell-sac is retained and enlarged as the permanent shell-forming area.
1915Brit. Med. Jrnl. 11 Dec. 848/2 The necessity of investigating cases of ‘*shell shock’ very carefully in order to differentiate those that are functional from those that are due to organic lesions. 1918E. A. Mackintosh War, the Liberator 148 The Corporal..collapsed suddenly with twitching hands and staring, frightened eyes, proclaiming the shell-shock he had held off while the work was to be done. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Sailor & Soldier Words 255 Shell shock... Since the war, the term has been officially abolished, in favour of the technical term ‘Psycho⁓neurosis’. 1933J. F. C. Fuller Generalship 20 The most rapid way to shell-shock an army is to shell-proof its generals; for once the heart of an army is severed from its head the result is paralysis. 1935M. Harrison Spring in Tartarus iii. 300 The cocoa which Jim sold at a penny the cup, was called ‘shell-shock’. 1943G. Greene Ministry of Fear ii. i. 111 There's not a finer shell-shock clinic in the country. 1952S. Kauffmann Philanderer (1953) vii. 108 An unfortunate rambling man, supposed to have been shell-shocked in the war. 1959Listener 5 Mar. 406/1 A mug of ‘shell-shock’—that is what we call cocoa. 1978Ibid. 9 Feb. 168/2 Seeking relief from this shell-shock, I phone a screenwriter friend. 1978Maledicta 1977 I. 121 The student was shell-shocked by the letter.
1918E. A. Mackintosh War, the Liberator 146 The man rejected the offer with scorn, as badly *shell-shocked men will. 1973P. Dickinson Green Gene ix. 180 ‘How are you?’ he said. ‘Burnt out,’ said Mr. Leary. ‘Shell-shocked.’
1918Kipling Debits & Credits (1926) 65 It appeared that the silent Brother was a ‘*shell-shocker’.
c1794in Shirreff Agric. Shetl. Isl. (1814) App. 47 The water, or *shell sickness, is a disease peculiar to those sheep who feed on the hilly pastures at a distance from the sea shores. 1573*Shell-silver [see shell-gold above]. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Silver, Shell-Silver, is made of the Shreads of Silver Leaves, or of the Leaves themselves: Used in Painting and Silvering certain Works.
1968Funk & Wagnalls Cook's & Diner's Dict. 213/2 *Shell steak, another name for club steak. 1969R. Lockridge Murder in False Face v. 67 You can watch a tall stranger cutting fat from a shell steak. 1973Listener 19 Apr. 501/1 A landscape of luscious rib roasts, lamb chops, shell steaks, T-bone steaks, sirloin steaks, fillet mignon,..and so on.
1790J. White Jrnl. Voy. N.S. Wales 194 A convict..met a party of the natives..by whom he was beaten, and also slightly wounded with the *shell-stick used in throwing their spears.
1895Montgomery Ward Catal. 291/1 Fascinators, hand made, *shell stitch, made of Shetland floss. 1976Woman's Day (U.S.) Nov. 128/1 Crocheted rainbow afghan in shell⁓stitch pattern fairly glows with its twelve different colors.
1955Friedman & Weisskopf in W. Pauli Niels Bohr 146 Some years ago when the evidence for the *shell structure was accumulating and some of the inadequacies of the compound nucleus picture were becoming more apparent. 1974G. Reece tr. Hund's Hist. Quantum Theory vii. 92 During this period new facts were discovered which made it possible to understand..the shell structure.
1893Vizetelly Glances Back I. ii. 33 The Clapham pedagogue was a great stickler for corporal punishment in the case of small boys, and to the administration of this the *shell suits then worn lent themselves admirably.
1706Lond. Gaz. No. 4249/4 A very strong well-limb'd Punch,..6 years old, and *Shell-Tooth. 1826–7Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XVIII. 599/2 As in the centre they [sc. corner teeth of a horse] are hollowed like a shell, and contain a kind of fleshy substance, called the mark, they are sometimes called shell teeth.
1726Dict. Rusticum (ed. 3) s.v. Horse's-age, A horse is said to be *Shell-toothed, when he has long Teeth, and yet black specks in them. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Shell-toothed,..an appellation given to a horse that from five years old to old age naturally, and without any artifice, bears mark in all his fore teeth, and there still keeps that hollow place with the black mark.
1888G. Kapp in Jrnl. Soc. Telegr.-Engineers & Electricians XVII. 96 We may divide transformers broadly into two classes—one in which the copper coils are spread over the surface of the iron core, enveloping the latter more or less completely; and the other in which the core is spread over the surface of the copper coils, forming a shell over the winding. I propose to call the former ‘core transformers’, and the latter ‘*shell transformers’. 1902Encyl. Brit. XXXIII. 418/1 Shell transformers have the disadvantage generally of poor ventilation for the copper circuits.
1888Jrnl. Soc. Telegr.-Engineers & Electricians XVII. 113 These figures show that even in stout rings..the core type [of transformer] is better than the *shell type.
1935Discovery Nov. 333/2 The early pottery lamps of the ægean, Phœnicia, etc. (known to the British Museum as the ‘cocked-hat’ type, though ‘shell-type’ seems much more expressive, both as to shape and origin). 1964W. L. Goodman Hist. Woodworking Tools 179 In 1864 the first shell-type chuck with adjustable jaws was patented by Barber.
1922Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 911/2 The three-phase *shell-type transformer is a development of the single phase, having three individual sets of coils and the three cores arranged to form one composite core. 1947R. Lee Electronic Transformers & Circuits ix. 239 Lower capacitance obtains with two coils than with a shell-type transformer of the same interleaving.
b. In names of animals and plants: shell-bark, short for shell-bark hickory (occas. s. walnut), a North American tree, Carya (formerly Juglans) ovata, having a rough shaggy bark consisting of long narrow plates loosely adhering by the middle; also C. laciniosa (Thick Shell-bark); also, the nut produced by one of these trees; shell-binder, Terebella conchilega, the tube of which is composed of sand and fragments of shells; shell-cracker U.S., the red-ear sunfish, Lepomis megalotis; shell-eater, an African bird, Anastomus lamelligerus (cf. open-bill); shell-flower, Molucella lævis, the genus Chelone, and some species of Alpinia; shell-fly, a kind of fly; an angler's artificial fly (see quots.); shell-grinder, shell-ibis (see quots.); shell-insect, (a) see quot.; (b) a name for crustaceans of the group Entomostraca; shell-lettuce (see quot.); shell parrakeet, the Australian species Melopsittacus undulatus (Cassell); shell parrot = budgerigar; † shell-pear = avocado; † shell-toad, nonce-translation of Du. schildpad (see shellpad); shell-worm, † (a) a kind of shell-fish; (b) a tubicolous annelid; (c) a mollusc of the family Dentaliidæ.
1769R. Smith Jrnl. 11 May in F. W. Halsey Tour of Four Great Rivers (1906) 21 The Timber in these Parts..consists of..red Oak Hazel Bushes, Ash and Gum together with Butternut and *Shellbark, Hiccory in plenty. 1785G. Washington Jrnl. 15 Apr. (1925) II. 362, I planted..a row of the Shell bark hickory Nutt from New York. 1805Alex. Wilson Foresters Poems & Lit. Prose (1876) II. 131 In deep glens are groves of Shellbarks found. 1814F. Pursh Flora Amer. Septentr. II. 637 Juglans sulcata..is called Thick Shell-bark Hickory, Springfield or Glocester Nut. Ibid., Juglans alba..is known by the name of Shell-bark Hickory, Shag-bark and Scaly-bark Hickory. 1822Hortus Anglicus II. 489 Shell-bark Walnut Tree. 1884Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 133 Carya sulcata,..Big Shell-bark. Bottom Shell-bark. 1885Harper's Mag. Dec. 78/2 The chipmunk..[has] his hoard of hazel-nuts and shell-barks. 1948N.W. Ohio Q. Winter 13 Two or three did not get in until dark bearing the big loads of fine shellbarks. 1969T. H. Everett Living Trees of World xii. 98/2 The big shellbark hickory..chiefly inhabits rich, deep, fairly moist soils.
1863Wood Nat. Hist. III. 701 The *Shell-binder is very plentiful on some of our coasts.
1889Cent. Dict., *Shell-cracker 1947B. W. Dalrymple Panfish 180 The name ‘Shellcracker’ comes from his habit of feeding on small crustaceans. 1975Southern Living Aug. 18/3 Fishing is good for bass, crappie, bream, bluegill and shellcracker.
1869–73T. R. Jones Cassell's Bk. Birds IV. 75 The African Clapper-bill, or *Shell-eater.
1845–50A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. App. 129 Molucella lævis, *shell-flower. 1856A. Gray Man. Bot. (1860) 285 Chelone glabra,..called..Shell-flower, Balmony. 1884W. Miller Plant-n. 124/2 Shell-flower... Brush. Alpinia (Hellenia) cærulea. Indian. Alpinia nutans.
1653Walton Angler v. 97 There are as many sorts of Flies as there be of Fruits:..as the dun flie,..the *shel flie, the cloudy or blackish flie. 1655Ibid v. (1661) 107 The shell-fly, good in mid July, the body made of greenish wool, lapt about with the herle of a Peacocks tail; and the wings made of the wings of the Buzzard. 1741Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. ii. 334 The Shell Fly, termed also the Green Fly. 1829Glover's Hist. Derby I. 177 The following list, which are well known to the expert angler: viz. barm fly,..sand fly, shell fly.
1886Encycl. Brit. XX. 174/1 (Queensland), The *shell-grinder, Cestracion, is similar to a shark found as fossil in Europe.
1894Newton Dict. Birds 655 note, Others [sc. names given to birds of the genus Anastomus]..are Shell-eater, *Shell Ibis, and Snail-eater. 1899A. H. Evans Birds iv. 97 Anastomus is called the ‘Shell-Ibis’ from its cleverness in extracting Unio and other molluscs from their shells.
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Shell⁓gall-insect, an insect of the gall-insect class, somewhat resembling those which are called the boat-fashioned ones... It has its name of *shell-insect, from the resemblance it bears to a muscle-shell.
1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 148 The *Shell Lettice, so called from the roundness of its Leaf, almost like a Shell, is the first that will Cabbage at the going out of the Winter; otherwise called Winter Lettice.
1890‘Lyth’ Golden South xiv. 127 The tiny budgerigar, sometimes called the *shell parrot. 1954Coast to Coast 1953–4 88 The shell-parrots, in glittering, swerving flights, were shrill over the reaches of the river.
1672W. Hughes Amer. Physit. 41, I never heard it called by any other name than the Spanish Pear, or by some the *Shell-Pear. 1691–6Plukenet Almagestum Wks. 1769 III. 39 Shell-Pear (i.e.) Pyrus corticosus & testaceus.
1570Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 2307/2 He was called Shildpad: that is to say, *Sheltode: for that he beyng a short grundy and of litle stature, did ryde commonly with a great broad hat.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Escaramugos, a kind of *shell worm breeding on rockes, and on the sides of ships.
Add:[III.] [23.] f. Mus. The cylindrical or hemispherical frame of a drum which supports the skin or head.
1879Grove Dict. Mus. I. 463/2 [A kettledrum] consists of a metallic kettle or shell, more or less hemispherical. 1891O. Langey Celebr. Tutors: Side Drum, Xylophone 12 The modern drum..should be of moderate depth, about nine inches in the shell. 1928F. E. Dodge Dodge Drum School 27 The street drum should be made with solid wooden shell. 1964S. Marcuse Mus. Instruments 156/1 The body of tubular and vessel drums is also called shell, which acts as a resonator. 1989Rhythm Apr. 13/2 The shells are only four plies thick, the same as Ludwig's Super Classic drums.
g. The more or less rigid (freq. plastic) outer casing of any manufactured object.
1972Guardian 31 Oct. 11/4 Ski boots are now injection-moulded plastic shells lined with foam padding. 1983Your Computer Sept. 21/2 The only problem with the..port is that the case cut-out around it is not big enough for most DB-25 plug shells. I got around that temporarily by removing the connector shell. 1988Arena Autumn/Winter 105 (Advt.), TDK's new chrome position tapes... With new wrapping, new shells, improved construction.
▸ Computing. a. A program, esp. one with the ability to make logical inferences, which requires the addition of data relevant to a particular application in order to operate. More fully expert-system shell.
1969C. S. Carr Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 15. 1 A sub-system called ‘Telnet’ is proposed which is a shell program around the network system primitives, allowing a teletype or similar terminal at a remote host to function as a teletype at the serving host. 1984P. Jones in R. Forsyth Expert Syst. ix. 134 The expert system shells..operate at the system rather than the programming level. They contain, essentially invisibly to the user, the data structures and control strategy needed to implement an application. 1987T. Forester High-tech Society ii. 47 Expert system ‘shells’ or ‘tool kits’—skeleton programs on which customers can hang their own experts' knowledge—such as the Xi system from Expertech.., have achieved substantial sales. 2002Professional Safety (Nexis) Oct. 32 An expert system must reside in a shell that provides an environment for rules to be entered and executed.
b. In some operating systems (originally Multics and Unix): a program that translates commands keyed by the user into commands that the operating system can act on, thereby providing a high-level interface with the user. Also (more fully shell window): a window in which such commands can be invoked.
1974Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery 17 371/1 For most users, communication with unix is carried on with the aid of a program called the Shell. The Shell is a command line interpreter. 1982Pandora's Box in fa.info-vax (Usenet newsgroup) 16 Jan. The most important [feature] is the ability to..type commands directly to a OS command language interpreter (i.e., shell) and have them executed. This includes the ability to lift input and output out of the ‘shell window’ and stick it into some other editing buffer. 1986Personal Computer World Nov. 57/1 (advt.) Full source code to the shell and all utilities, written in ‘C’, is included with this incredible package. 1996U.S. News & World Rep. 5 Feb. 79/1 Now give all members of the family..a desktop management ‘shell’, a program that sits on top of the Windows or Macintosh operating system. 2002Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 25 May 8 Just go to a shell, type ‘apt-get upgrade’ and, poof, you're upgrading.
▸ shell suit n. chiefly Brit., a lightweight casual outfit, similar to a tracksuit, consisting of a loose-fitting jacket and trousers with a thin, soft inner lining and a water-resistant outer shell of synthetic material.
1973Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail (Electronic text) 31 Oct. (advt.) Comfortable nylon *shell suit lined with nylon tricot, filled with Dacron 88 polyester. 1989Burlington Home Shopping Catal. 1989–90 Autumn–Winter 554/1 Shell suit by Adidas. Strong nylon outer. Hardwearing suit features two side pockets, attractive contrast piping. 2000Evening Post (Bristol) (Electronic ed.) 15 Apr. Stand outside any court and watch the pitiful procession of felons as they swagger into court with their bumfluff moustaches, shiny shell suits and trainers, and you can't help but fear for the future.
▪ II. shell, v.|ʃɛl|
[f. shell n. Cf. MLG. schellen to peel; also shale v., sheel v.]
1. trans. To remove (a seed) from its shell, husk, or pod. Also with out.
Shelling peas is put (colloq.) for a type of a simple easy process.
1562Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 33 Thyrtye granes of Lentilles shelled. a1668Davenant Play House i. i, What, Shelling of Beans? 'tis a proper work For the Long Vacation. 1725P. Blair Pharmaco-Bot. iii. 129 Three Bolls of unshell'd or unhusk'd Oats only yield one Boll of what is shell'd or husk'd. 1796Mrs. Glasse's Cookery iii. 32 Shell your pease just before you want them. 1803M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) II. 125 In bad weather, shell out your corn. 1830Marryat King's Own xli, I never..shelled a pea in my life. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xxii, Shelling peas into a dish. 1860Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 3), To Shell corn, to remove the grains of Indian corn from the cob. 1867A. J. Wilson Vashti v, Engaged in shelling some seed⁓beans.
b. Med. To extrude, expel (a growth).
1876Trans. Clinical Soc. IX. 41 The capsule of the glands was opened, and most of them were shelled out without much difficulty. 1879St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 384 An elastic moveable tumour..which was easily shelled after a slight dissection.
c. (See quots.)
1823Crabb Technol. Dict., To Shell, (Vet.) is said of a horse that has the teeth completely bare and uncovered, which happens about the fifteenth or sixteenth year. 1886Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., Animals and children are always said to shell their teeth—that is, to shed or cast the milk teeth.
d. intr. Of grain, seed, etc.: To drop out of the shell or husk.
1828–32Webster, Shell..3. To be disengaged from the husk; as, wheat or rye shells in reaping. 1846Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VII. i. 71 The oats that shell out on the land at harvest time.
2. trans. To remove the shell, husk, etc. of.
1694Motteux Rabelais v. Prol. A 3 They shall shell [orig. esgoussera] the Shrub's delicious Fruit, Whose Flow'r they in the Spring so much had fear'd. 1705in Agnew Hered. Sheriffs Galloway (1893) II. xi. 207 That they shell their oats sufficientlie for the first time, and winnow the shelling. 1780Young Tour Irel. I. 139 The oats are dried at home..they are then sent to a mill to be shelled. 1806A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 228 Some shrimps shelled. 1807Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 72 Coarse millstones for shelling clover. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. 193 The women who shell almonds in the south of France. 1894Century Mag. XLVII. 851, I remembered that my Lake George neighbors ‘shell’ out their nuts when they take the ‘shucks’ off them.
b. To bring forth as from a shell. rare.
1890[Mrs. A. Macleod] Austral. Girl xvi, Creatures that are shelled into life in weltering heaps.
3. intr. To come away or fall off as a shell, crust, or outer coat; to come off in thin pieces, peel or scale off.
1676Wiseman Chirurg. Treat. iv. iv. 287 By this very method the rottenness of the Bone soon shell'd off. 1686tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 38 There is nothing..that appears either tarnished or shel'd off [orig. écaillé] in any part. 1760Phil. Trans. LI. 636 It did..damage to the column..by causing its surface to shell off. 1883R. Haldane in Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 254/2 (Whitewashing) This [mixture] will not shell off.
4. trans. To enclose in, or as in, a shell; to encase. (See shelled a. 1.)
1637N. Whiting Albino & Bellama 9 His body shelled in a Satten skin Of azure dye. Ibid. 53 Cupid..disdaines to dwell In loftie pallace, but does shell Himselfe in straw⁓thatcht roofe. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, lxxiv, They did returne Vnto the King; who Shells himselfe, to see Wthin himselfe, the Obiect of this Scorne. 1666[Marvell] Third Advice to Painter 18 Even they (though shell'd in trebble Oak) Will prove an Addle-egg with double Yoalk. 1685Cotton tr. Montaigne xix. (1869) 68 Shell thee with steel or brass,..Death from the casque will pull thy cautious head. c1822Beddoes Poems, Pygmalion 69 Like a dim mist Shelling a god, it rolled. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xviii, Their faces seemed full of speech, as if their minds had been shelled after the manner of horse-chesnuts.
†b. pass. (app.) To be fixed close, as a mollusc to its shell.
1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, ccxxvi, A Man soe Shell'd in Blood vnto his Beast.
5. a. To furnish with shells for collecting spat.
1885Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 110 Spawning oysters are frequently put down in the spring, two months before the ground is shelled. 1891W. K. Brooks Oyster 108 Of this vast area a large portion has been cleaned up and shelled.
b. To spread oyster-shells on (ground) as a fertilizer; to make up (a road) with shells; intr. to deal in or use oyster-shells.
In U.S. Dicts.
6. To bombard with shells (also absol.); to drive out of a place by shelling.
1856W. H. Russell War xxiii. 227 The Russians now shell vigorously. 1870Standard 16 Nov., A battery was planted, and the chateau was about to be shelled. 1895Times 4 Feb. 5/1 Every gun in the fort had been silenced, and the Japanese were fairly shelled out of it.
transf.1897‘H. S. Merriman’ In Kedar's Tents xx, The other soldier was chasing his opponent up the hill, shelling him, as he rode away, with oaths and stones.
fig.1827Scott Chron. Canongate i, My quondam doer had ensconced himself chin-deep among legal trenches..but my two protectors shelled him out of his defences. 1834De Quincey Autob. Sk. Wks. 1853 I. 45 From these..he was speedily driven, or one might say shelled out, by a concerted assault of my sister Mary's.
7. shell out. colloq. (fig. from sense 1).
a. trans. To disburse, pay up, hand over. Also (rarely) to shell down.
1801M. Edgeworth Moral T., Forester, The Bank-Notes, One of you..must shell out your corianders [see coriander 3]. 1815― Love & Law i. i, To shell out for me the price of a daacent horse. 1816Scott Bl. Dwarf vii, The gold is shelled down when ye command, as fast as I have seen the ash-keys fall in a frosty morning. 1819Moore Tom Crib's Memor. (ed. 3) 27 Who knows but, if coax'd, he may shell out the shiners? 1863in Robson Bards of Tyne 299 Shell oot yor goold, my collier lad.
b. intr. To pay up.
1821Egan Life in London (1869) x. 265 If you are too scaly to tip for it, I'll shell out and shame you. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. vi, I've got a tick at Sally's,..but then I hate running it high..towards the end of the half, 'cause one has to shell out for it all directly one comes back. 1889H. O'Reilly 50 Yrs. on Trail 254, I had to ‘shell out’ pretty freely..it cost me 250 dollars.
c. trans. To let out, declare. rare.
1862Mrs. H. Wood Channings i, Come, Miss Channing, just shell out what you know.
Add:[6.] b. Baseball. To score heavily against (an opposing pitcher or team). Freq. in pass. Cf. shellac v. 2.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §677/30 Make many hits,..pump out hits, shell, unleash a barrage. Spec. hammer or pound out a win, to win by scoring many hits. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 26 June 1–b/1 Not that Billings starter and loser Bill Dawley or reliever Rick Lear were shelled. Each gave up four hits. Ibid. 6 July 2–c/7 Each singled twice and drove in three runs to support Gary Ross' five-hit pitching Monday night as the California Angels shelled the Cleveland Indians 8–1. 1987First Base Summer 21/3 Gooden..was shelled twice by Boston in the World Series, finishing 0–3 in the post-season.
▪ III. shell
obs. Anglo-Irish form of sell v.
a1660Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) I. 173 A Judas an Apostat merchant shellinge the same for money. Ibid. II. 137 To shell the lives of his abetters. |