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Shell

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16 dictionary results for: Shell

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

shell

[shel] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a hard outer covering of an animal, as the hard case of a mollusk, or either half of the case of a bivalve mollusk.

2.	any of various objects resembling such a covering, as in shape or in being more or less concave or hollow.

3.	the material constituting any of various coverings of this kind.

4.	the hard exterior of an egg.

5.	the usually hard, outer covering of a seed, fruit, or the like, as the hard outside portion of a nut, the pod of peas, etc.

6.	a hard, protecting or enclosing case or cover.

7.	an attitude or manner of reserve that usually conceals one's emotions, thoughts, etc.: One could not penetrate his shell.

8.	a hollow projectile for a cannon, mortar, etc., filled with an explosive charge designed to explode during flight, upon impact, or after penetration.

9.	a metallic cartridge used in small arms and small artillery pieces.

10.	a metal or paper cartridge, as for use in a shotgun.

11.	a cartridgelike pyrotechnic device that explodes in the air.

12.	shells, Italian Cookery. small pieces of pasta having the shape of a shell.

13.	the lower pastry crust of a pie, tart, or the like, baked before the filling is added.

14.	Computers. a program providing a menu-driven or graphical user interface designed to simplify use of the operating system, as in loading application programs.

15.

Physics.

a.	any of up to seven energy levels on which an electron may exist within an atom, the energies of the electrons on the same level being equal and on different levels being unequal.

b.	a group of nucleons of approximately the same energy.

16.	a light, long, narrow racing boat, for rowing by one or more persons.

17.	the outer part of a finished garment that has a lining, esp. a detachable lining.

18.	a woman's sleeveless blouse or sweater, esp. one meant for wear under a suit jacket.

19.	Nautical. the plating, planking, or the like, covering the ribs and forming the exterior hull of a vessel.

20.	tortoise shell (def. 1).

21.	a mollusk.

22.	Engineering. the curved solid forming a dome or vault.

23.	an arena or stadium covered by a domed or arched roof.

24.	a saucer-shaped arena or stadium.

25.	the framework, external structure, or walls and roof of a building: After the fire, only the shell of the school was left.

26.	a small glass for beer.

27.	the metal, pressure-resistant outer casing of a fire-tube boiler.

28.

Metallurgy.

a.	a scab on the surface of an ingot.

b.	a length of unfinished tubing.

c.	a pierced forging.

d.	a hollow object made by deep drawing.

–verb (used with object)

29.	to take out of the shell, pod, etc.; remove the shell of.

30.	to separate (Indian corn, grain, etc.) from the ear, cob, or husk.

31.	to fire shells or explosive projectiles into, upon, or among; bombard.

–verb (used without object)

32.	to fall or come out of the shell, husk, etc.

33.	to come away or fall off, as a shell or outer coat.

34.	to gather sea shells: We spent the whole morning shelling while the tide was out.

—Verb phrase

35.	shell out, Informal. to hand over (money); contribute; pay.

[Origin: bef. 900; (n.) ME; OE scell (north), sciell; c. D schil peel, skin, rink, ON skel shell, Goth skalja tile; (v.) deriv. of the n.; cf. shale

]

—Related forms

shell-less, adjective

shell-like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Shell
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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

she'll

[sheel; unstressed shil] Pronunciation Key

contraction of she will.

—Usage note See contraction.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shell (shěl) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. The usually hard outer covering that encases certain organisms, such as mollusks, insects, and turtles; the carapace.
2. A similar outer covering on an egg, fruit, or nut.
3. The material that constitutes such a covering.
4. An external, usually hard, protective or enclosing case or cover.
5. A framework or exterior, as of a building.
6. A thin layer of pastry.
7. The external part of the ear.
8. The hull of a ship.
9. A light, long, narrow racing boat propelled by rowers.
10. An artillery projectile containing an explosive charge.
11. A metal or cardboard case containing the charge and primer for a piece of firearms ammunition, especially one also containing shot and fired from a shotgun.
12. Any of the set of hypothetical spherical surfaces centered on the nucleus of an atom that contain the orbitals of electrons having the same principal quantum number.
13. An analogous pattern of protons and neutrons within a nucleus.
14. A usually sleeveless and collarless, typically knit blouse, often worn under another top.
15. The outermost layer of a lined garment such as a coat or jacket: a parka with a waterproof shell.
Something resembling or having the form of a shell, especially:
1. An external, usually hard, protective or enclosing case or cover.
2. A framework or exterior, as of a building.
3. A thin layer of pastry.
4. The external part of the ear.
5. The hull of a ship.
6. A light, long, narrow racing boat propelled by rowers.
7. An artillery projectile containing an explosive charge.
8. A metal or cardboard case containing the charge and primer for a piece of firearms ammunition, especially one also containing shot and fired from a shotgun.
9. Any of the set of hypothetical spherical surfaces centered on the nucleus of an atom that contain the orbitals of electrons having the same principal quantum number.
10. An analogous pattern of protons and neutrons within a nucleus.
11. A usually sleeveless and collarless, typically knit blouse, often worn under another top.
12. The outermost layer of a lined garment such as a coat or jacket: a parka with a waterproof shell.
Nautical
1. The hull of a ship.
2. A light, long, narrow racing boat propelled by rowers.
3. An artillery projectile containing an explosive charge.
4. A metal or cardboard case containing the charge and primer for a piece of firearms ammunition, especially one also containing shot and fired from a shotgun.
5. Any of the set of hypothetical spherical surfaces centered on the nucleus of an atom that contain the orbitals of electrons having the same principal quantum number.
6. An analogous pattern of protons and neutrons within a nucleus.
7. A usually sleeveless and collarless, typically knit blouse, often worn under another top.
8. The outermost layer of a lined garment such as a coat or jacket: a parka with a waterproof shell.
A small glass for beer.
1. An artillery projectile containing an explosive charge.
2. A metal or cardboard case containing the charge and primer for a piece of firearms ammunition, especially one also containing shot and fired from a shotgun.
3. Any of the set of hypothetical spherical surfaces centered on the nucleus of an atom that contain the orbitals of electrons having the same principal quantum number.
4. An analogous pattern of protons and neutrons within a nucleus.
5. A usually sleeveless and collarless, typically knit blouse, often worn under another top.
6. The outermost layer of a lined garment such as a coat or jacket: a parka with a waterproof shell.
An attitude or a manner adopted to mask one's true feelings or to protect one from perceived or real danger.
Physics
1. Any of the set of hypothetical spherical surfaces centered on the nucleus of an atom that contain the orbitals of electrons having the same principal quantum number.
2. An analogous pattern of protons and neutrons within a nucleus.
3. A usually sleeveless and collarless, typically knit blouse, often worn under another top.
4. The outermost layer of a lined garment such as a coat or jacket: a parka with a waterproof shell.
1. A usually sleeveless and collarless, typically knit blouse, often worn under another top.
2. The outermost layer of a lined garment such as a coat or jacket: a parka with a waterproof shell.
Computer Science A program that works with the operating system as a command processor, used to enter commands and initiate their execution.
A company or corporation with few or no assets or independent operations that is acquired by another company in order to allow the acquiring company to conduct business under the acquired company's legitimate legal standing.

v. shelled, shell·ing, shells

v. tr.

1. To remove the shell of; shuck: shell oysters.
2. To remove from a shell: shell peas.
3. To defeat decisively.
4. Baseball To hit the pitches of (a pitcher) hard and with regularity: shelled the pitcher for eight runs in the first inning.
To separate the kernels of (corn) from the cob.
To fire shells at; bombard.
1. To defeat decisively.
2. Baseball To hit the pitches of (a pitcher) hard and with regularity: shelled the pitcher for eight runs in the first inning.

v. intr.

To shed or become free of a shell.
To look for or collect shells, as on a seashore: spent the day shelling on Cape Cod.

Phrasal Verb(s):
shell out Informal
To hand over; pay: had to shell out $500 in car repairs.

[Middle English, from Old English scell; see skel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

shell adj., shell'er n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
shell (n.)

O.E. sciell, scill, Anglian scell "seashell, eggshell," related to O.E. scealu "shell, husk," from P.Gmc. *skaljo "divide, separate" (cf. W.Fris. skyl "peel, rind," M.L.G. schelle "pod, rind, egg shell," Goth. skalja "tile"), with the notion of "covering that splits off," from PIE base *(s)kel- "to cut, cleave" (cf. O.C.S. skolika "shell," Rus. skala "bark"). Sense of "mere exterior" is from 1652; that of "hollow framework" is from 1791. Meaning "structure for a band or orchestra" is attested from 1938. Military use (1644) was first of hand grenades, in ref. to the metal case in which the gunpowder and shot were mixed; 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. Shellfish is from O.E. scylfiscas (pl.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
shell (v.)

1562, "to remove (a nut, etc.) from a shell," from shell (v.). The meaning "to bombard with shells is first attested 1856. To shell out "disburse" (1801) is a fig. use from the image of extracting nuts.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

shell
noun
1.	ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun
2.	the material that forms the hard outer covering of many animals
3.	hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles [syn: carapace]
4.	the hard usually fibrous outer layer of some fruits especially nuts
5.	the exterior covering of a bird's egg
6.	a rigid covering that envelops an object; "the satellite is covered with a smooth shell of ice"
7.	a very light narrow racing boat
8.	the housing or outer covering of something; "the clock has a walnut case"
9.	a metal sheathing of uniform thickness (such as the shield attached to an artillery piece to protect the gunners) [syn: plate]
10.	the hard largely calcareous covering of a mollusc or a brachiopod
verb
1.	use explosives on; "The enemy has been shelling us all day" [syn: blast]
2.	create by using explosives; "blast a passage through the mountain" [syn: blast]
3.	fall out of the pod or husk; "The corn shelled"
4.	hit the pitches of hard and regularly; "He shelled the pitcher for eight runs in the first inning"
5.	look for and collect shells by the seashore
6.	come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; "Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat the competition"; "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game" [syn: beat]
7.	remove from its shell or outer covering; "shell the legumes"; "shell mussels"
8.	remove the husks from; "husk corn" [syn: husk]

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shell (shěl) Pronunciation Key

1. The usually hard outer covering of certain animals, such as mollusks, insects, and turtles.
2. The hard outer covering of a bird's egg.
3. The hard outer covering of a seed, nut, or fruit.
4. A set of electron orbitals that have nearly the same energy. Electrons in outer shells have greater energy than those in shells closer to the nucleus. Elements in the Periodic Table range from the lightest elements with electrons normally occupying one shell (hydrogen and helium) to the heaviest, with electrons in seven shells (radium and uranium, for instance). See more at atomic spectrum , orbital , subshell. See Note at metal.
5. Any of the stable states of other particles or collections of particles (such as the nucleons in an atomic nucleus) at a given energy or small range of energies.
1. A set of electron orbitals that have nearly the same energy. Electrons in outer shells have greater energy than those in shells closer to the nucleus. Elements in the Periodic Table range from the lightest elements with electrons normally occupying one shell (hydrogen and helium) to the heaviest, with electrons in seven shells (radium and uranium, for instance). See more at atomic spectrum , orbital , subshell. See Note at metal.
2. Any of the stable states of other particles or collections of particles (such as the nucleons in an atomic nucleus) at a given energy or small range of energies.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

SHELL language
An early system on the Datatron 200 series.
[Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)].
[The Jargon File]
(1995-05-11)

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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

shell
1. (Originally from Multics, widely propagated via Unix) The command interpreter used to pass commands to an operating system; so called because it is the part of the operating system that interfaces with the outside world.
The commonest Unix shells are the c shell (csh) and the Bourne shell (sh).
2. (Or "wrapper") Any interface program that mediates access to a special resource or server for convenience, efficiency, or security reasons; for this meaning, the usage is usually "a shell around" whatever.
[The Jargon File]
(1995-05-11)

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Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

shell

[orig. Multics n. techspeak, widely propagated via Unix]
1. [techspeak] The command interpreter used to pass commands to an operating system; so called because it is the part of the operating system that interfaces with the outside world.
2. More generally, any interface program that mediates access to a special resource or server for convenience, efficiency, or security reasons; for this meaning, the usage is usually `a shell around' whatever. This sort of program is also called a `wrapper'.
3. A skeleton program, created by hand or by another program (like, say, a parser generator), which provides the necessary incantations to set up some task and the control flow to drive it (the term driver is sometimes used synonymously). The user is meant to fill in whatever code is needed to get real work done. This usage is common in the AI and Microsoft Windows worlds, and confuses Unix hackers.

Historical note: Apparently, the original Multics shell (sense 1) was so called because it was a shell (sense 3); it ran user programs not by starting up separate processes, but by dynamically linking the programs into its own code, calling them as subroutines, and then dynamically de-linking them on return. The VMS command interpreter still does something very like this.

Jargon File 4.2.0

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U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Shell Beach, CA Zip code(s): 93449

Shell Knob, MO Zip code(s): 65747

Shell Lake, WI (city, FIPS 73200) Location: 45.73859 N, 91.89909 W
Population (1990): 1161 (782 housing units)
Area: 16.0 sq km (land), 10.4 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 54871

Shell Rock, IA (city, FIPS 72435) Location: 42.71265 N, 92.58155 W
Population (1990): 1385 (542 housing units)
Area: 4.0 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 50670

Shell Point, SC (CDP, FIPS 65680) Location: 32.37871 N, 80.74936 W
Population (1990): 2885 (1078 housing units)
Area: 17.8 sq km (land), 4.2 sq km (water)

Shell Valley, ND (CDP, FIPS 72250) Location: 48.79792 N, 99.86433 W
Population (1990): 343 (90 housing units)
Area: 2.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Shell, WY Zip code(s): 82441

Soft Shell, KY Zip code(s): 41831

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shell

Bomb\, n. [F. bombe bombshell, fr. L. bombus a humming or buzzing noise, Gr. ?.]

1. A great noise; a hollow sound. [Obs.]

A pillar of iron . . . which if you had struck, would make . . . a great bomb in the chamber beneath. --Bacon.

2. (Mil.) A shell; esp. a spherical shell, like those fired from mortars. See Shell.

3. A bomb ketch.

Bomb chest (Mil.), a chest filled with bombs, or only with gunpowder, placed under ground, to cause destruction by its explosion.

Bomb ketch, Bomb vessel (Naut.), a small ketch or vessel, very strongly built, on which mortars are mounted to be used in naval bombardments; -- called also mortar vessel.

Bomb lance, a lance or harpoon with an explosive head, used in whale fishing.

Volcanic bomb, a mass of lava of a spherical or pear shape. "I noticed volcanic bombs." --Darwin.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shell

Mes"sage\ (?; 48), n. [F., fr. LL. missaticum, fr. L. mittere, missum, to send. See Mission, and cf. Messenger.]

1. Any notice, word, or communication, written or verbal, sent from one person to another.

Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. --Judg. iii. 20.

2. Hence, specifically, an official communication, not made in person, but delivered by a messenger; as, the President's message.

Message shell. See Shell.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shell

Shell\, n. 1. 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.

2. A concave rough cast-iron tool in which a convex lens is ground to shape.

3. A gouge bit or shell bit.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shell

Shale\, n. [AS. scealy, scalu. See Scalme, and cf. Shell.]

1. A shell or husk; a cod or pod. "The green shales of a bean." --Chapman.

2. [G. shale.] (Geol.) A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a thin, laminated, and often friable, structure.

Bituminous shale. See under Bituminous.

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On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shell