See Also: shell(1)(dictionary)
shell(2)(dictionary)
shell(encyclopedia)
fig-shell(medicine)
ear-shell(medicine)
top-shell(medicine)
ark shell(medicine)
K shell(medicine)
Shell(medicine)
wreath-shell(medicine)

shell(2) (iou)



shell verb. M16.
[from SHELL noun & adjective Cf. SHALE verb.]
verb trans. Remove (a nut etc.) from its shell, husk, etc.; remove the shell, husk, etc., of. Cf. UNSHELL. M16.
Dickens Shelling peas into a dish. E. B. Tylor The women who shell almonds.
b. verb intrans. Of grain, a seed, etc.: be separated or removed from its shell, husk, etc. E19.
c. Medicine. Extrude, expel, (a growth). L19.
d. verb trans. Of a child, a young animal: shed or lose (the milk teeth). Scot. & dial. L19.
verb trans.
a. Enclose (as) in a shell; encase. M17.
N. Whiting His body shelled in a Satten skin Of azure dye.
b. Provide or cover with a shell or a layer of shells. L19.
verb intrans. Come away or fall off as a shell or outer layer; peel off in thin pieces or scales. Usu. foll. by off. L17.
verb trans. Bombard (an enemy position etc.) with shells; drive (a person) out of a place by shelling. E19.
verb trans. & intrans. Foll. by out: pay (money), hand over (a required sum). colloq. E19.
Scootering They'd only have to shell out..1.00 to buy you another.
verb trans. Baseball. Score heavily against (an opposing pitcher or team). Freq. in pass. Cf. SHELLAC verb 2. M20.
Comb.: shell-out a game of snooker etc. played by three or more people in which the same balls are used as in the game pyramids and a stake is paid by the other players each time a player pockets a ball.
sheller noun a person who or machine which shells peas, molluscs, corn, etc. L17.