shell

n. [ OE. shelle, schelle, AS. scell, scyll; akin to D. shel, Icel. skel, Goth. skalja a tile, and E. skill. Cf. Scale of fishes, Shale, Skill. ] 1. A hard outside covering, as of a fruit or an animal. Specifically: (a) The covering, or outside part, of a nut; as, a hazelnut shell. (b) A pod. (c) The hard covering of an egg. [ 1913 Webster ]

Think him as a serpent's egg, . . .
And kill him in the shell. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) (Zool.) The hard calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates. In some mollusks, as the cuttlefishes, it is internal, or concealed by the mantle. Also, the hard covering of some vertebrates, as the armadillo, the tortoise, and the like. (e) (Zool.) Hence, by extension, any mollusks having such a covering. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mil.) A hollow projectile, of various shapes, adapted for a mortar or a cannon, and containing an explosive substance, ignited with a fuse or by percussion, by means of which the projectile is burst and its fragments scattered. See Bomb. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The case which holds the powder, or charge of powder and shot, used with breechloading small arms. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in; as, the shell of a house. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A coarse kind of coffin; also, a thin interior coffin inclosed in a more substantial one. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. An instrument of music, as a lyre, -- the first lyre having been made, it is said, by drawing strings over a tortoise shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

When Jubal struck the chorded shell. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. An engraved copper roller used in print works. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. pl. The husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is often used as a substitute for chocolate, cocoa, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Naut.) The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A light boat the frame of which is covered with thin wood or with paper; as, a racing shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. Something similar in form or action to an ordnance shell; specif.: (a) (Fireworks) A case or cartridge containing a charge of explosive material, which bursts after having been thrown high into the air. It is often elevated through the agency of a larger firework in which it is contained. (b) (Oil Wells) A torpedo. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

12. A concave rough cast-iron tool in which a convex lens is ground to shape. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

13. A gouge bit or shell bit. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Message shell, a bombshell inside of which papers may be put, in order to convey messages. --
Shell bit, a tool shaped like a gouge, used with a brace in boring wood. See Bit, n., 3. --
Shell button. (a) A button made of shell. (b) A hollow button made of two pieces, as of metal, one for the front and the other for the back, -- often covered with cloth, silk, etc. --
Shell cameo, a cameo cut in shell instead of stone. --
Shell flower. (Bot.) Same as Turtlehead. --
Shell gland. (Zool.) (a) A glandular organ in which the rudimentary shell is formed in embryonic mollusks. (b) A glandular organ which secretes the eggshells of various worms, crustacea, mollusks, etc. --
Shell gun, a cannon suitable for throwing shells. --
Shell ibis (Zool.), the openbill of India. --
Shell jacket, an undress military jacket. --
Shell lime, lime made by burning the shells of shellfish. --
Shell marl (Min.), a kind of marl characterized by an abundance of shells, or fragments of shells. --
Shell meat, food consisting of shellfish, or testaceous mollusks. Fuller. --
Shell mound. See under Mound. --
Shell of a boiler, the exterior of a steam boiler, forming a case to contain the water and steam, often inclosing also flues and the furnace; the barrel of a cylindrical, or locomotive, boiler. --
Shell road, a road of which the surface or bed is made of shells, as oyster shells. --
Shell sand, minute fragments of shells constituting a considerable part of the seabeach in some places. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To fall off, as a shell, crust, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cast the shell, or exterior covering; to fall out of the pod or husk; as, nuts shell in falling. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be disengaged from the ear or husk; as, wheat or rye shells in reaping. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Sheldafle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A species of hickory (Carya alba) whose outer bark is loose and peeling; a shagbark; also, its nut. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Having a shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, shells; as, an oyster sheller; a corn sheller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Any aquatic animal whose external covering consists of a shell, either testaceous, as in oysters, clams, and other mollusks, or crustaceous, as in lobsters and crabs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Groats; hulled oats. Simmonds. [ 1913 Webster ]