shell: [OE] Shell goes back ultimately to the Germanic base *skal- ‘divide, separate’, which also produced English scale, scalp, school (of fish), shale, shelter, shield, shoal (of fish), skill, and skol. Its underlying meaning is hence a ‘covering that splits off or is peeled off’. Its immediate Germanic ancestor was *skaljō, which also produced Dutch schel and Norwegian skjæl. Shellac [18] is a compound of shell and lac ‘lacquer, varnish’ (a word of Sanskrit origin, of which lacquer is a derivative), and is a direct translation of French laque en écailles ‘lac (melted) in thin plates’. => scale, scalp, school, shale, shelter, shield, shoal, skill, skol
shell (n.)
Old English sciell, scill, Anglian scell "seashell, eggshell," related to Old English scealu "shell, husk," from Proto-Germanic *skaljo "piece cut off; shell; scale" (cognates: West Frisian skyl "peel, rind," Middle Low German schelle "pod, rind, egg shell," Gothic skalja "tile"), with the shared notion of "covering that splits off," from PIE root *(s)kel- (1) "to cut, cleave" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic skolika "shell," Russian skala "bark, rind;" see scale (n.1)). Italian scaglia "chip" is from Germanic.
Sense of "mere exterior" is from 1650s; that of "hollow framework" is from 1791. Meaning "structure for a band or orchestra" is attested from 1938. Military use (1640s) was first of hand grenades, in reference to the metal case in which the gunpowder and shot were mixed; the notion is of a "hollow object" filled with explosives. Hence shell shock, first recorded 1915. Shell game "a swindle" is from 1890, from a version of three-card monte played with a pea and walnut shells.
shell (v.)
1560s, "to remove (a nut, etc.) from a shell," from shell (n.). The meaning "to bombard with shells" is first attested 1856. To shell out "disburse" (1801) is a figurative use from the image of extracting nuts. Related: Shelled; shelling.
shell 双语例句
1. She was the only woman in Shell's legal department.
她是壳牌公司法律事务部唯一的女性。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Everywhere building facades are pitted with shell and bullet holes.
任一处的建筑物正面都布满了弹洞。
来自柯林斯例句
3. This cuttlefish has a horny internal shell like a pen.
这只乌贼有一个笔状的角质内壳。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Her normally shy son had come out of his shell.
她那平时很害羞的儿子已经开始与人交往了。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The solid feel of the car's shell is impressive.