shell 
\Vhen rowing alone in a single gig or shell the amateur 
will encounter in his early lessons the novel experience of 
considerable difficulty In maintaining the balance of his 
boat. Tribune Book of Sports, p. 820. 
(e) Collectively, the outside plates of a boiler. 
0. A hollow object of metal, paper, or the like, 
used to contain explosives. Especially (a) In 
pyrotechny, a sort of case, usually of paper, thrown into the 
air, often by the explosion of another part of the firework, 
and bursting by the ignition of the charge from a fuse 
usually lighted by the same explosion. (6) Milit., a metal 
case containing an explosive, formerly spherical and 
thrown from mortars or smooth-bore cannon, now gener- 
ally long and partly cylindrical with a conical or conoidal 
5565 
shell. See the adjectives. Left-handed shell, a sin- 
istral or sinistrorse shell of a univalve. See sinistral. 
Mask-shell, a gastropod of the genus Persona, resem- 
bling a triton. P. P. Carpenter. Metal Shell, a car- 
tridge-case of thin, light metal charged with powder and 
shot (or ball), for use in breech-loading guns and rifles, 
sheller 
The varnish is usually applied more than once, each coat 
hi'in^ thoroughly rubbed, so th:it the piuvs <>f the wood 
are filled up and the surface is left smooth, but without 
any thick coat of varnish covering it. Shellac varnish, 
a varnish made by dissolving shellac in some solvent, as 
alcohol, with sometimes the addition of a coloring matter. 
___ _ _ 
and fitted with a cap or primer for firing by percussion. shellac (she-lak' or shel'ak), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
They are used and loaded like paper shells (see below), and 
ey are use an oae pae es eo, ../.^///r/i/.^/y TV c/>/>7//-,/-Hi/j r 
canbeflredandrechargedmanytimes. Simitar metal shells sle <! acke<i , ppr. si ,ll,i, I. <>,. LAIS 
are almost universally used for the fixed ammunition of Shellac, 11.] io coat with shellac. 
revolving pistols, but for shot-guns they are largely su 
perseded by paper shells. See cut under shot-en rtridyc. 
ell, 
In the finishing of this class of rods they are polished 
with pumice stone, their pores are filled with whiting and 
water, and they are shellacked and varnished. 
Sci. Amer., N. S., LXII. 198. 
Valuta vespertilio. Pavel shell, (a) A case made of 
successive layers of paper pasted one on another, and shell-apple (shel'ap"!), n. bee sheld-apple. 
filled with a small bursting-charge of powder, and va- shell-auger (shera"ger), n. An auger which 
rious pyrotechnic devices. It is fired from a mortar hag a i lo n ow s hell extending several inches 
and is fitted with a fuse so regulated as to explode it at ., t( .- .,. tnwnvf i rlip rmnrilp 
" '*, of its trajectory. (6) A cartridge-case of paste- BOBJ the cutting edge toward me handle. 
aining a charge of powder and shot, to be ex- shellback (shel'bak), n. An old sailor; a sea- 
center-fire or rim-fire percussion, now much dog; a barnacle. [Slang.] 
-Money-shell, a money-cowry. See cowry. Pallia! 
shell. See pallial. Panama shell, a certain volute, 
ploded by 
used for breech-loading shot-guns instead of metal shells. 
Shell for use in Army and Navy Breech-loading Rifled Ordnance. 
a, body of shell, of cast-iron for ordinary use, or of steel for pene- 
trating armor ; *, rotating ring of copper, which engages the rifle- 
grooves and imparts axial rotation to the shell ; c, powder-charge ; 
a, Hotchkiss percussion-fuse. 
point ; a bombshell. Shells are exploded either by a fuse 
calculated to burn a definite length of time and ignited by 
the blaze of the gun, or by the concussion of striking. 
Spherical shells were formerly used also as hand-grenades. 
See cut under percussion-fuse. 
10. A copper cylinder used as a roller in print- 
ing on paper or calico, the design being en- 
graved upon the outer surface : so called be- 
cause it is thin and hollow, and is mounted 
upon a wooden roller when in use. 11. A 
part of the guard of a sword, consisting of a 
solid plate, sometimes perforated, attached to 
the cross-guard on either side. The combina- 
tion of the two shells resulted in the cup-guard. 
I imagined that his weapon had perforated my lungs, 
and of consequence that the wound was mortal ; there- 
fore, determined not to die unrevenged, I seized hisshell, 
which was close to my breast, before he could disentan- 
gle his point, and, keeping it fast with my left hand, short- 
ened my own sword with my right, intending to run him 
through the heart. 
Smollett, Roderick Random, lix. (Dairies.) 
A Silver and Gold hilted Sword of a Trophy Pattern, 
with a man on Horseback on the Middle of the Pommel, 
and the same in the Shell. 
Quoted in Ashton's Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, 
[I. 157. 
12. A shell-jacket. 13. A concave-faced tool 
of cast-iron, in which convex lenses are ground 
to shape. The glass is attached to the face of a runner, 
and is worked around in the shell with aswinging stroke. 
E. H. Knight. 
The grinding and polishing tools ... for concave lenses 
consist of a concave rough grinding- tool of cast iron, call- 
ed a shell . . . Ure, Diet, III. 105. 
14. A gouge-bit or quill-bit. 15. In weaving, 
thepi ' -'"-- ' 
reed 
and under shells. E. S. Knight. 
cal instrument such as a lyre, the first lyre be- 
ing made, according to classic legend, of strings 
drawn over a tortoise's shell. 
When Jubal struck the corded shell. 
Dryden, Song for St. Cecilia's Day. 
When Music, heavenly maid, was young, . . . 
The Passions oft, to hear her shell, 
Thronged around her magic cell. 
Collins, The Passions. 
Cheered by the strength of Ronald's shell, 
E'en age forgot his tresses hoar. 
Scott, Olenfinlas. 
17. In some public schools, an intermediate 
class or form. 
The sixth form stood close by the door on the left. . . . 
The fifth form behind them, twice their number and not 
quite so big. These on the left ; and on the right the lower 
fifth, shell, and all the junior forms in order. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 5. 
" The shell " [at Harrow School), observed Bertram, 
" means a sort of class between the other classes. Father 's 
so glad Johnnie has got into the shell." 
Jean Ingelow, Fated to be Free, xlx. 
18. Outward show, without substance or real- 
ity. 
So devout are the Romanists about this outward shell 
of religion that, if an altar be moved, or a stone of it 
broken, it ought to be reconsecrated. Aylife, Parergon. 
Baptismal shell. See baptismal. Blind shell (a) A 
bombshell which, from accident or a bad fuse, has fall- 
en without exploding, (b) A shell filled with fuse-com- 
position, and having an enlarged fuse-hole, used at night 
to determine the range, (c) A shell whose bursting- 
charge is exploded by the heat of impact. Bombay 
shell, a name in India for the Cassis rufa, one of the hel- 
met-shells, imported at Bombay in large quantities from 
Zanzibar, and reshipped to England and France to make 
cameos. Chambered Sheila. *ee cha mbered. ~ Chank- 
or shank-shell. Same as chank'2. Chaslesian shell. 
See Chaslesian. Coat-of-mail shell, a chiton. See 
cuts under Polyplacophora and Chitonidx. Convolute 
shell. See convolute. Incendiary, live, magnetic 
They are made in enormous quantities for sportsmen, of 
different sizes to fit the usual bores, and of various patterns 
in respect of the devices for firing. Some have pretty solid 
metal heads, with nipples for percussion-caps, and such 
may be reloaded like metal shells, though they are not gen- 
erally used after once firing. They are loaded by special 
machines for the purpose, including a device for crimping 
Had a landsman heard me say that I had changed my 
name, then, unless I had explained that property was the 
cause, he would straightway have suspected me of arson, 
forgery, or murder; . . . these two shell-backs asked no 
questions, suspected nothing, simply said " Hegerton it 
is," and so made an end of the matter. 
W. C. Russell, Jack's Courtship, xx. 
the open end down over the shot-wad, and take different ghell-bank (shel'bangk), n. A shelly bank or 
charges of powder and shot according to the game for kill- , Uillir oi liio-Vi Hrlo tV>rm i no- 
oar, usually CO veied at high t 
ing which they are designed to he used. See cut under 
shot-cartridge, (c) A rowboat made of paper. See def. 
8 (d). Perspective shell. See perspective and Solari- 
um. Pilgrim's shell. See pili/rim. Purple-shell, a 
gastropod affording a dyestuff. See Murex, furpura, and 
purple, K. Ram's-horn shell, an ammonite. Reverse 
Shell. See reverse. Right-handed Shell, a dextral 
or dextrorse shell of a univalve. See dextral. Shell 
couching. See couching 1 , 5. Slit top-shell-any mem- 
ber of the Scissurellidx. P. P. Carpenter. watering- 
pot Shell. See asperyulum and watering-pot. (See also 
acorn-shell, agate-shell, apple-shell, ark-shell, auaer-shell, 
basket-shell, boat-shell, bubble-shell, cameo-shell, carrier-shell, 
clink-shell, cone-shell, date-shell, ear-shell, egg-shell, fan- 
favorite feeding-grounds for various fishes. 
[U. S.] 
ihellbark (shel'bark), H. Either of two hick- 
ories of eastern North America, so named from 
the loose, flat, strap-like scales of the bark on 
old trees. The principal one is Carya alba (Hicoria 
ovata); the big or bottom shellbark, thriving particularly 
on bottom-lands in the west, is C. (H.) sulcata. Both are 
important hard-wood timber-trees, and both yield sweet 
and oily marketable nuts, those of the former being 
smaller, thinner-shelled, and sweeter. Also thai/bark. See 
shell, fig-shell, gold-shell, helmet-shell, idol^hett, jingle-shell, -uii VIA /,>,] 'v>it1 i; A tvmVal form of tl 
ladder-shell, lamp-shell, lantern-shell, nutshell, pheasant- Shell-bit (Sliel Dit;, . A typical loim O 
shell, razor-shell, rice-shell, rock-shell, rosary-shell, scorpion- bit for boring in wood. It is shaped like a gouge 
shell, screw-shell, shuttle-shell, silver-shell, tooth-shell, top- 
shell, trumpet-shell, tube-shell, tulip-shell, tun-shell, turban- 
shell, tusk-shell, wedge-shell, wing-shell, worm-shell.) 
shell (shel), v. [< ME. *schellen, schyllen, shell 
(= D. schillen, pare, peel), < shell, n. Cf. scale 1 , 
so as to shear the fibers round the circumfer- 
ence of the holes. 
shell-blow (shel'blo), n. A call sounded on a 
horn made of a large shell, usually the conch 
._. I. trans. 1. To strip off or remove the 
shell or outer covering of ; take out of the shell : 
as, to shell nuts. 
For duller than a shelled crab were she. J. Baillie. gjiell-boat (shel'bot), . 
Under the largest of two red-heart cherry-trees sat a shell-bOX(sherboks), . 
frame placed on 
a wagon Qr f Qr tne urpose of can ing haVi 
straw, etc. 
Same as shell, 8 (d). 
1. A box divided into 
girl shelling peas. She had a professional way of inserting compartments for keeping small shells of dif- 
her small, well-curled thumb into the green shales, oust- ., 5 t ..;,-;., -{ nf a cmiptmlocHpnl r>nl 
ing their contents with a single movement. terent vaneties as part ( 
Harper's Xag., LXXVI. 31. lection. 2. A box decorated by the applica- 
2. To remove from the ear or cob: as, to shell <>n of shells arranged in ornamental patterns. 
corn.-3. To cover with or as with a shell ; in- shell-button (shel'but/'n) . A hollow button 
case in or as in a shell. made of two Pieces, front and back, joined by 
a turnover seam at the edge and usually cov- 
Shell thee with steel or brass, advised by dread, , ... .,, , , , 
Death from thecasque will pull thy cautious head. jred Wltn silk or Clotn. 
Cotton, tr. of Montaigne, xvi. (Dames.) shell-cracker (shel'krak"er), H. Akmdofsun- 
4. To cover or furnish with shells, as an oyster- sh, Eupomotis speciosus. [Florida.] 
bed; provide shells for spat to set; also, to shell-crest (shel'krest), n. Among pigeou-fan- 
cover (land) with oyster-shells as a fertilizer. lfs. fo of cres .nmng around the back 
of the head in a semicircle : distinguished from 
The planter now employs all his sloops, and hires extra nf>n i. :..../ 
men and vessels, to distribute broadcast, over the whole P ,, j!,,. . , ,.,,. 
tract he proposes to improve that year, the many tons of Shell-dllllSk (Sliel ail* isk), n. Ihe dulse, Rho- 
shells that he has been saving all winter. . . . Sometimes dymenia palmata : so called from its growing 
the same plan is pursued with seed that has grown natu. amonK mussel-shells near low-water mark. See 
rally, but too sparingly, upon a piece of uncultivated hot- j / -jji]j,,i. Kliniliimfnin rit-planrl ~\ 
torn ; or young oysters are scattered there as spawners. dltlif aMisk, Itiodi/nnma. Upland. J 
and the owner waits until the next season before he shells shell-dove (shel'duv), n. A ground-dove of the 
the tract. Fisheries of V. S., V. ii. 643. genus Scardafella, as S. xquamata or S. inca; a 
5. To throw bombshells into, upon, or among; scale-dove. See cut under Scardafella. 
bombard : as, to shell a fort or a town. shelldraket, An obsolete form of sheldrake. 
There was nothing to prevent the enemy shelling the Shellduck, H. See shelduck. 
city from heights within easy range. shell-eater (shel'e"ter), n. The open-beaked 
Gen. ilcClellan, quoted in The Century, XXXVI. 393. stork : same as clapper-bill. See cut under open- 
6. See the quotation. WK. 
Bigot. Formerly a beat of drum while men who were Shelled (sheld), . Having a sheU, in any sense; 
as applied to animals, testaceous, conchiferous. 
ostracous, ostracodermatous, entomostracous, 
thoracostracous, coleopterous, loricate, thick- 
To shell out, to hand over; deliver up: as, shell out 
your money ! [Slang. ] 
Will you be kind enough, sir, to shell out for me the 
shelled (a French punishment, the severest next to death) 
were paraded up and down the ranks previous to their 
being sent to their destination. WUhelm, Mil. Diet. 
skinned, etc. (see the specific words). 
, 
price of a daacent horse fit to mount a man like me? 
Miss Edgeworth, Love and Law, i. 1. 
II. intrans. 1. To fall off, as a shell, crust, 
or exterior coat. 2. To cast the shell or ex- 
terior covering: as, nuts shell in falling. 3. 
To deal in or nave to do with oyster-shells in 
anyway; transport, furnish, or make use of 
oyster-shells as an occupation. See I., 4. [Lo- 
cal, U. S.] 
shellac (she-lak' or shel'ak), n. [Also shellack, 
shell-lac, shell-lack; < shell + /oc 2 .] Seed-lac 
melted and formed into thin plates. This is the 
form in which it is generally sold for making 
varnish and the like. See lac 2 shellac finish, 
a polish, or a polished surface, produced by the application 
of shellac varnish and subsequent rubbing of the surface. 
Mr. Cumberland used to say that authors must not be 
thin-skinned, but shelled like the rhinoceros. 
7. D'lsraeli, Calam. of Authors, p. 216. 
sheller (shel'er), n. [<7ieK + -er 1 .] One who 
shells or husks, or a tool or machine used in 
shelling or husking: as, a com-sheller ; pea- 
shellers. 
These young rascals, 
These pescod-sAeWerg, do so cheat my master 
We cannot have an apple in the orchard 
But straight some fairy longs for't. 
Randolph, Amyntas, iii. 4. 
Specifically (a) A machine for stripping the kernels of 
maize or Indian corn from the cob; a corn-sheller. (b) 
One who makes a business of opening bivalves for market ; 
an opener; ashucker; a sticker. [NewJersey.] 
The clams are thoroughly washed before they are given 
over to the knives of the " shellers," or "openers" as they 
are sometimes called. Fisheries of IT. S., V. ii. 693. 
