shekel 
Obverse. Reverse. 
Jewish Shekel. British Museum. <Size of original.) 
posed to be Aaron's rod budding. Specimens usually 
weigh from 212 to 220 grains. Half-shekels were also 
struck in silver at the same date. 
3. pi. Coins; coin; money. [Slang.] 
From their little cabinet-piano were evoked strains of 
enchanting melody by fingers elsewhere only to be bought 
by high-piled shekels. The Century, XL 577. 
shekert, n. An obsolete form of checker 1 . 
Shekinah, . See Shechinah. 
Sheld 1 t, An obsolete form of shield. 
sheld 2 (sheld), a. and n. An obsolete or dialec- 
tal form of shold 1 for shoal 1 . 
sheld 3 (sheld), <i. [Also, erroneously, shelled 
(Halliwell); appar. only in comp., as in shel- 
drake and sheldapple, being the dial, or ME. 
sheld, a shield, used of 'spot' in comp.: see 
sheld 1 , sheldapple, sheldrake.'] Spotted; varie- 
gated. Coles. 
sheldaflet, See sheldapple. 
sheldapple (shel'dap-1), . [Also in obs. or dial, 
forms sheldappel, sheld-aple, sheldafle (appar. by 
error), also shell-apple, sheel-apple, early mod. 
E. sheld appel, appar. for *sheld-dapple, < sheld 1 , 
shield, + dapple. The second element may, 
however, be a popular perversion of alp 2 , a 
bullfinch. Cf. D. schildi'ink, a greenfinch, lit. 
'shield-finch.' Cf. sheldrake.] 1. The chaf- 
finch. [Prov. Eng.] 2. The crossbill, Loxia 
curvirostra. See cut under crossbill. 
sheld-fowl (sheld'foul), n. [< sheld (as in shel- 
drake) +fown.~\ The common sheldrake. [Ork- 
ney.] 
Sheldrake (shel'drak), . [Formerly also shell- 
drake (also shieldrake, shield-drake, shildrake, 
appar. artificial forms according to its orig. 
meaning), < ME. seheldrak, prob. for *sheld- 
drake, lit. ' shield-drake,' < sheld, a shield (in 
allusion to its ornamentation) (< AS. scyld, a 
shield, also part of a bird's plumage), + drake: 
see shield and drake 1 . Cf. Icel. skjolduiigr, a 
sheldrake, skjoldottr, dappled, < skjold, a shield, 
a spot on cattle or whales; Dan. skjoldet, spot- 
ted, brindled, < skjold, a spot, a shield. Cf . shel- 
duck, sheld-fowl. The Orkney names sheldrake, 
skeelduck, skeelgoose appar. contain a corrupted 
form of the Scand. word cognate with E. sheld 1 , 
shield.'] 1. A duck of either of the genera Ta- 
dorna and Casarca. The common sheldrake is T. 
vulpanser, or T. cornuta, the so-called links goose, sly goose, 
5564 
breasted merganser, also called vheMnck. fy. 
The canvasback duck. [Virginia.] 
Shcldrach or canvasback. 
Jefferson, Notes on Virginia (1788). 
shelduck (shel'duk), . [Also shellduck, for 
orig. "sheld-duck, < sheld (as in sheldrake), + 
duck?.] 1. Same as sheldrake, 3. 2. The fe- 
male of the sheldrake. 3. The red-breasted 
merganser, Mergus serrator. Yttrrell. [Local, 
Ireland.] 
shelf 1 (shelf), n. ; pi. shelves (shelvz). [< ME. 
schelfe, shelfe (pi. schelves, shelves), < AS. scylfe, 
a plank or shelf, = MLG. schelf, LG. schelfe, a 
shelf, = Icel. skjdlf, a bench, seat (only in comp. 
lilidh-skjdlf, lit. 'gate-bench,' a name for the seat 
of Odin); prob. orig. 'a thin piece'; cf . Sc. shelve, 
a thin slice ; D. sehilfer, a scale, schilferen, scale 
off, LG. schelfern, scale off, peel, G. schelfe, a 
husk, shell, paring, schelfen, schelfern, peel off; 
Gael, sgealb, a splinter, split. Cf. shelf?.] 1. 
A thin slab or plank, a piece of marble, slate, 
wood, or other material, generally long and 
narrow, fixed horizontally to a wall, and used 
for supporting small objects; in general, a 
narrow flat surface, horizontal or nearly so, 
and raised above a larger surface, as of a floor 
or the ground. 
In the southern wall there is a ... little shelf of com- 
mon stone, supported by a single arch; upon this are 
placed articles in hourly use, perfume bottles, coffee cups, 
a stray book or two. R. F. Burton, El-Medinah, p. 18S. 
2. In ship-building, an inner timber, or line of 
timbers, following the sheer of the vessel, and 
bolted to the inner side of ribs, to strengthen 
the frame and sustain the deck-beams. See 
cut under beam, 3. 
The ends of the deck-beams rest upon a line of timbers 
secured on the inside surface of the frames. This com- 
bination of timbers is termed the shelf. 
Thearle, Naval Arch., 201. 
3. The charging-bed of a furnace. 
The bed of the furnace is divided Into two parts ; the 
"working bed," that nearest the fire, is 6 in. or so lower 
than the shelf or charging bed. 
Spans' Encyc. Manuf., I. 290. 
4. In scissors, the bottom of the countersink 
which receives the head of the screw uniting 
the two bladesTo put, lay, or cast on the shelf, 
to put aside or out of use ; lay aside, as from duty or active 
service; shelve. 
The seas 
Had been to us a glorious monument, 
Where now the fates have cast us on the shelf 
To hang 'twix ah- and water. 
Heywood, Fortune by Land and Sea. 
shelf 1 (shelf), v. t. [< shelf 1 , n. Cf. shelve 1 , the 
more common form of this 
shelve 1 . 
is verb.] Same as 
Sheldrake (TaJorna cornuta or -vulpanser). 
skeelgoose or sketlduck, burrow- or barrow-duck, bergan- 
der, etc., of Great Britain and other parts of Europe Asia 
and Africa. This is a duck, though with somewhat the 
figure and carriage of a goose, and belongs to the Ana- 
tinss (having the hallux unlobed), but is maritime and 
notable for nesting in underground burrows. It is about 
as large as the mallard, and has a similar glossy greenish- 
black head and neck ; the plumage is otherwise varied with 
black, white, and chestnut in bold pattern ; the bill is car- 
mine, with a frontal knob, and the legs are flesh-colored. 
This bird is half-tamed in some places, like the eider-duck 
and laid under contribution for its eggs. The ruddy shel- 
drake or Brahminy duck is T. casarca, or Casarca rutila 
wide-ranging like the foregoing. Each of these sheldrakes 
is represented in Australian, Papuan, and Polynesian re- 
gions by such forms as Tadorna radjah, Casarca tador- 
notdes, and C. iiariegata. No sheldrakes properly so called 
are American. 
2. The shoveler-duck, Spatula clypeata, whose 
variegated plumage somewhat resembles that 
of the sheldrake. .[Local, Eng.] 3. A mer- 
ganser or goosander; especially, the red- 
shelf 2 (shelf), )i.; pi. shelves (shelvz). [Re- 
garded as a particular use of shelf 1 , but in part 
at least, in the sense of 'shoal 'or 'sand-bank,' 
due to association with shelve^, and thus ult. 
practically a doublet of shoal 1 , sheld 2 , shallow 1 : 
see shelve*, shoal 1 , shallow 1 .'] 1. A rock, ledge 
of rocks, reef, or sand-bank in the sea, render- 
ing the water shallow and dangerous to ships ; 
a reef or shoal; a shallow spot. 
To auoyde the daungiours of suche shalowe places and 
shelf es, he euer sent one of the smaulest carauelles before, 
to try the way with soundinge. 
Peter Martyr (it. in Eden's First Books on America, ed. 
What sands, what shelves, what rocks do threaten her ! 
B. Jonson, Catiline, iii. 1. 
On the tawny sands and shelves 
Trip the pert faeries and the dapper elves. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 117. 
Ships drift darkling down the tide. 
Nor see the shelves o'er which they glide. 
Scott, Eokeby, iv. 27. 
2. A projecting layer or ledge of rock on land. 
3. The bed-rock; the surf ace of the bed-rock; 
the rock first met with after removing or sink- 
ing through the superficial detritus. [Eng.] 
shelfy (shel'fi), a. [< shelf? + -y 1 .'] Full of 
shelves ; shelvy. (a) Abounding with sand-banks or 
rocks lying near the surface of the water, and rendering 
navigation dangerous : as, a shelfy coast. 
Advent'rous Man, who durst the deep explore, 
Oppose the Winds, and tempt the shelfy Shoar. 
Congreve, Birth of the Muse. 
(6) Full of rocky up-cropping ledges. 
The tillable fields are in some places so ... tough that 
the plough will scarcely cut them, and in some so ihelfie 
that the corn hath much adoe to fasten its roote. 
R. Caren, Survey of Cornwall, p. 19. 
shell (shel), n. [< ME. schelle, shelle, < AS. seel, 
scell, scill, set/I, scyll, scelU, a shell, = D. schel, 
also schtl, shell, cod, peel, rind, web (of the eye), 
bell, = Icel. skel, a shell, = Goth, skalja, a tile ; 
akin to scale 1 . Cf. sheal 1 , a doublet of shell.'] 
Shell 
1. A scale or husk; the hard outer covering of 
some kinds of seeds and fruits, as a cocoannt. 
In /Egypt they fill the shell with milk, and let it stand 
some time, and take it as an emetic. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. i. 233. 
2. In zoiil,, a hard outer case or covering; a 
crust; a test; a lorica; a carapace; an indu- 
rated (osseous, cartilaginous, cuticular, chiti- 
uous, calcareous, silicious, etc.) integument or 
part of integument. (See exoskeletoii.) Specin- 
cally (a) In mammal., the peculiar integument of an ar- 
madillo, forming a carapace, and sometimes also a plas- 
tron, as in the fossil glyptodons. (6) An egg-shell. 
This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head. 
Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 193. 
(e) In herpet, a carapace or plastron, as of a turtle ; spe- 
cifically, tortoise shell, (a) In ichth., the-box-like integu- 
ment of the ostracionts. (e) In Molluscd, the test of any 
mollusk ; the valve or valves of a shell-fish ; the chitinized 
or calcified product of the mantle ; a conch. A shell in 
one, two, or several pieces is so highly characteristic of 
mollusks that these animals are commonly called shell- 
fish collectively, and many of them are grouped as Testa- 
cea, Conchifera, etc. In some mollusks, as dibranchiate 
cephalopoda, the shell is internal, constituting the pen 
or cuttle (see calamary) ; in others there is no shell. The 
shell is secreted chiefly by a mantle or folds of the mantle 
which are developed around the soft parts, and is usually 
composed of carbonate of lime. It is generally univalve 
and spiral, as in most gastropods. In chitons there are 
eight valves imbricated in a longitudinal series, bound 
together by a marginal band. In bivalves two shells are 
developed from and cover the sides of the animal, right 
and left. (See cuts under bivalve.) Some mollusks other- 
wise bivalve have accessory valves. (/) In Brachiopoda 
there are two valves, but one covers the back and the other 
the abdominal region, so that the valves are dorsal and 
ventral. These shells are sometimes composed chiefly of 
phosphate of lime, as in lingulas. (g) In Crustacea, the 
hard chitinous or calcareous integument or crust, or some 
special part of it : as, the shell of a crab or lobster. (A) In 
entom. : (1) The wing-case of a beetle ; an elytron ; a shard : 
as, "cases or shells (elytra)," Summon and Shuckard. (2) 
The cast skin of a pupa, especially of lepidopterous in- 
secta ; a pupa-shell, (t) In echinoderms, the hard crust 
or integument, especially when it coheres in one hollow 
case or covering ; a test : as, the shell of a sea-urchin, (j) 
In Venues, the tube or case of a tubicolous worm, when 
hard, thick, or rigid, like a mollusk's shell: as, the shell 
of a serpula. (k) In some Protozoa, a silicious or calca- 
reous test or lorica of any kind. Such shells are present 
under numberless modifications, often beautifully shaped 
and highly complicated, perforated, camerated, etc., as in 
foraminifers, radiolarians, sun-animalcules, many infuso- 
rians, etc. 
3. In anat., some hard thin or hollowed part, 
(a) A tnrbinate bone ; a scroll-bone. (6) A hollow or cylin- 
dric cast or exfoliation, as of necrosed bone ; a squama. 
4. The outer ear, auricle, or conch : as, pearly 
shells or pink shells. [Chiefly poetical.] 
The whole external shell of the ear, with its cartilages, 
muscles, and membranes, is in Man a useless appendage. 
. Haeckel, Evol. of Man (trans.), II. 437. 
5. A shelled or testaceous mollusk ; a shell-fish. 
In this sense shell may be added, with or without a hyphen, 
to numerous words, serving to specify mollusks or groups 
of mollusks. Some of the best-established of such com- 
binations are noted after the phrases given below. 
6. The outer part or casing of a block which 
is mortised for the sheave, and bored at right 
angles to the mortise for the pin which forms the 
axle of the sheave. See cuts under block 1 . 
A block consists of a shell, sheave, pin, and strap (or 
strop). The shell is the frame or case. 
Qualtrouyh, Boat Sailer's Manual, p. 13. 
7. The thin film of copper which forms the 
face of an electrotype, and is afterward backed 
with type-metal to the required thickness. 8. 
Something resembling or suggesting a shell in 
structure or use. (a) A frail structure or vessel inca- 
pable of sustaining rough handling, or of which the inte- 
rior has been destroyed ; as, the house is a mere shell. 
His seraglio, which is now only the shell of a building, 
has the air of a Roman palace. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. i. 91. 
The ruin'd shells of hollow towers. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, Ixxvi. 
(6) Any framework or exterior structure regarded as not 
being completed or filled in. 
The Marquis of Medina Cidonia, in his viceroyalty, made 
the shell of a house, which he had not time to finish, that 
commands a view of the whole bay, and would have been 
a very noble building had he brought it to perfection. 
Addison, Bemarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bohn, I. 426). 
(c) A kind of rough coffin ; also, a thin coffin designed to be 
inclosed by a more substantial one. (d) A racing-boat of 
light build, long, low, and narrow (generally made of cedar 
Shell or Shell-boat. 
A, side-view ; B, cross-section : a, shell ; b, sliding-seat ; d, tf, 
outriggers : t, e' , oars. 
orpaper), rowed by means of outriggers, and (as now made) 
with the ends covered over to a considerable distance from 
both bow and stern, to prevent water from washing in ; a 
scull ; a gig. 
