Home > Antonyms > Antonyms for shells

Antonyms for shells

Grammar : Noun
Spell : shel
Phonetic Transcription : ʃɛl

Definition of shells

Origin :
  • Old English sciell, scill, Anglian scell "seashell, eggshell," related to Old English scealu "shell, husk," from Proto-Germanic *skaljo "piece cut off; shell; scale" (cf. West Frisian skyl "peel, rind," Middle Low German schelle "pod, rind, egg shell," Gothic skalja "tile"), with the shared notion of "covering that splits off," from PIE root *(s)kel- (1) "to cut, cleave" (cf. Old Church Slavonic skolika "shell," Russian skala "bark, rind;" see scale (n.1)). Italian scaglia "chip" is from Germanic.
  • Sense of "mere exterior" is from 1650s; that of "hollow framework" is from 1791. Meaning "structure for a band or orchestra" is attested from 1938. Military use (1640s) was first of hand grenades, in reference to the metal case in which the gunpowder and shot were mixed; the notion is of a "hollow object" filled with explosives. Hence shell shock, first recorded 1915. Shell game "a swindle" is from 1890, from a version of three-card monte played with a pea and walnut shells.
  • noun structure; covering
Example sentences :
  • Mr. Milbrey glanced at the two shells of the orange which the butler was then removing.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • Season the mixture with salt and pepper and fill the shells with it.
  • Extract from : « Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3 » by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
  • There were great heaps of shells by the sea where we came and dried fish and feasted.
  • Extract from : « The Trail Book » by Mary Austin
  • The shells from the French artillery on the Roman Road are crashing into the wood.
  • Extract from : « Camps, Quarters and Casual Places » by Archibald Forbes
  • Gather them while the shells are very soft, and rub them all with a flannel.
  • Extract from : « Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches » by Eliza Leslie
  • If used as shells they should be baked empty, and filled when cool.
  • Extract from : « Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches » by Eliza Leslie
  • It was the hardest of all things to wait, while shells now and then struck among them.
  • Extract from : « The Rock of Chickamauga » by Joseph A. Altsheler
  • Whew, that beats finding pearls in the shells of mussels all hollow!
  • Extract from : « With Trapper Jim in the North Woods » by Lawrence J. Leslie
  • It was like listening to a child babbling of its hoard of shells.
  • Extract from : « American Notes » by Rudyard Kipling
  • Now and then a house was smashed in and often the shells found victims.
  • Extract from : « The Rock of Chickamauga » by Joseph A. Altsheler

Synonyms for shells

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019