shell: meaning and words from its letters
5 letters · 8 letter points · starts with S · ends with L
Meaning of shell
noun
A hard external covering of an animal. The calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates.
Example: In some mollusks, as the cuttlefish, the shell is concealed by the animal's outer mantle and is considered internal.
- broadly
A hard external covering of an animal. Any mollusk having such a covering.
A hard external covering of an animal. The exoskeleton or wing covers of certain insects.
A hard external covering of an animal. The conjoined scutes that constitute the "shell" (carapace) of a tortoise or turtle.
Listed forms: shells.
Source: Wiktionary — shell.
verb
To remove the outer covering or shell of something.
To bombard, to fire projectiles at, especially with artillery.
Example: The guns shelled the enemy trenches.
- informal
To disburse or give up money, to pay. (Often used with out).
- intransitive
To fall off, as a shell, crust, etc.
Listed forms: shells, shelling, shelled.
Source: Wiktionary — shell.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org. Selected senses and forms; quotations omitted. Definition text is CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms by meaning
Words are grouped by sense, so they are not necessarily interchangeable in every context. Search synonyms for shell.
noun
hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles
noun
the exterior covering of a bird's egg
noun
a very light narrow racing boat
- racing shell
noun
the housing or outer covering of something
Open English WordNet Team, 2025, derived from Princeton University WordNet; selected synonym groups under CC BY 4.0. Source · OEWN notice · Princeton notice.
Is shell in our word lists?
| Word list | Status |
|---|---|
| American English | Found |
| British English | Found |
| Extended English | Found |
These are spelling-list matches, not official game validity checks. Check the rules and dictionary used by your game.
Letter-value score of shell
S(1) + H(4) + E(1) + L(1) + L(1) = 8 points.
This is a sum of letter values without board bonuses or word multipliers. A blank tile is worth zero: subtract the value of each letter supplied by a blank. The score does not establish game validity. Full letter-value table.
Anagrams of shell
0 other standard-list words use exactly these letters, including repeated letters.
No other single-word anagram was found in our standard list.
Shorter words from shell
11 shorter standard-list words can be made using no letter more often than it occurs in shell. Showing up to 24, longest first.