SHELL


Meaning of SHELL in English

(~s, ~ing, ~ed)

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.

The ~ of a nut or egg is the hard covering which surrounds it.

They cracked the nuts and removed their ~s...

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Shell is the substance that a ~ is made of.

...beads made from ostrich egg ~.

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2.

The ~ of an animal such as a tortoise, snail, or crab is the hard protective covering that it has around its body or on its back.

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3.

Shells are hard objects found on beaches. They are usually pink, white, or brown and are the coverings which used to surround small sea creatures.

I collect ~s and interesting seaside items.

...sea ~s.

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4.

If you ~ nuts, peas, prawns, or other food, you remove their natural outer covering.

She ~ed and ate a few nuts.

...~ed prawns.

VERB: V n, V-ed

5.

If someone comes out of their ~, they become more friendly and interested in other people and less quiet, shy, and reserved.

Her normally shy son had come out of his ~.

N-COUNT: usu poss N

6.

The ~ of a building, boat, car, or other structure is the outside frame of it.

...the ~s of burned buildings...

N-COUNT: usu with supp

7.

A ~ is a weapon consisting of a metal container filled with explosives that can be fired from a large gun over long distances.

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8.

To ~ a place means to fire explosive ~s at it.

The rebels ~ed the densely-populated suburbs near the port.

VERB: V n

~ing (~ings)

Out on the streets, the ~ing continued.

N-VAR

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .