n. A scale or husk; the hard outer covering of some kinds of seeds and fruits, as a cocoanut.n. In zoology, a hard outer case or covering; a crust; a test; a lorica; a carapace; an indurated (osseous, cartilaginous, cuticular, chitinous, calcareous, silicious, etc.) integument or part of integument. (See exoskeleton.)n. In herpetology, a carapace or plastron, as of a turtle; specifically, tortoise shell.n. In ichthyology, the box-like integument of the ostracionts.n. In Mollusca, 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 cephalopods, 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 otherwise bivalve have accessory valves.n. 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.n. In Crustacea, the hard chitinous or calcareous integument or crust, or some special part of it; as, the shell of a crab or lobstern. In entorn.:n. The wing-case of a beetle; an elytron; a shard: as, “cases or shells (elytra),”n. The cast skin of a pupa, especially of lepidopterous insects; a pupa-shell.n. 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.n. In Vermes, the tube or case of a tubicolous worm, when hard, thick, or rigid, like a mollusk's shell: as, the shell of a serpula.n. In some Protozoa, a silicious or calcareous 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, radiolariatis, sun-animalcules, many infusorians, etc.n. In anatomy, some hard thin or hollowed part.n. The outer ear, auricle, or conch: as, pearly shells or pink shells.n. A shelled or testaceous mollusk; a shell-fish.n. 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.n. The thin film of copper which forms the face of an electrotype, and is afterward backed with type-metal to the required thickness.n. Something resembling or suggesting a shell in structure or use.n. Any framework or exterior structure regarded as not being completed or filled in.n. A kind of rough coffin: also, a thin coffin designed to be inclosed by a more substantial one.n. A racing-boat of light build, long, low, and narrow (generally made of cedar or paper), 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.n. Collectively, the outside plates of a boiler.n. A hollow object of metal, paper, or the like, used to contain explosives.n. A copper cylinder used as a roller in printing on paper or calico, the design being engraved upon the outer surface: so called because it is thin and hollow, and is mounted upon a wooden roller when in use.n. A part of the guard of a sword, consisting of a solid plate, sometimes perforated, attached to the cross-guard on either side. The combination of the two shells resulted in the cup-guard.n. A shell-jacket.n. A concave-faced tool of cast-iron, in which convex lenses are ground to shape.n. A gouge-bit or quill-bit.n. In weaving, the part of the lay into the grooves of which the reed fits. They are called respectively upper and under shells.n. A musical instrument such as a lyre, the first lyre being made, according to classic legend, of strings drawn over a tortoise's shell.n. In some public schools, an intermediate class or form.n. Outward show, without substance or reality.n. A shell filled with fuse-composition, and having an enlarged fuse-hole, used at night to determine the range.n. A shell whose bursting-charge is exploded by the heat of impact.n. A cartridge-case of paste board, containing a charge of powder and shot, to be exploded by center-fire or rim-fire percussion, now much used for breech-loading shot-guns instead of metal shells. 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 generally used after once firing. They are loaded by special machines for the purpose, including a device for crimping the open end down over the shot-wad, and take different charges of powder and shot according to the game for killing which they are designed to be used. See cut under shot-cartridge.n. A rowboat made of paper. See def. 8 .To strip off or remove the shell or outer covering of; take out of the shell: as, to shell nuts.To remove from the ear or cob: as, to shell corn.To cover with or as with a shell; incase in or as in a shell.To cover or furnish with shells, as an oysterbed; provide shells for spat to set; also, to cover (land) with oyster-shells as a fertilizer.To throw bombshells into, upon, or among; bombard: as, to shell a fort or a town.See the quotation.To fall off, as a shell, crust, or exterior coat.To cast the shell or ex terior covering: as, nuts shell in falling.To deal in or have to do with oyster-shells in any way; transport, furnish, or make use of oyster-shells as an occupation. See I., 4.n. A smoked or colored concavo-convex glass for shielding the eye.n. In sheet-metal work, any piece of sheet-metal upon which one operation has been performed and which requires one or more additional operations to complete it. It is usually of a cup or shell form.n. The dug-out portion of a West Indian canoe, which consists of a dugout the sides of which are built up to any required height. See buck-shell.n. The part of a horse-hide obtained from the rump: a comparatively small piece.n. The porous cover of ferric oxid which incloses the kernel of concentrated copper obtained in roasting cupriferous iron pyrites. See kernel-roasting.n. A special form of hollow flat-iron used in finishing felt hats.