shelly

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Shelly

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From shell +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

shelly (comparative shellier, superlative shelliest)

  1. Composed of the shells of dead marine creatures
    • 2000 June 16, Karl W. Flessa, “Learning from the Dead”, in Science[1], volume 288, number 5473, →DOI, pages 1971–1972:
      After all, we live today in an unusual world: sea level is low, the continents are dispersed, ice occupies the poles, and the shelly fauna of the oceans is composed largely of aragonite rather than calcite.
    • 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: [] Jacob Tonson [], and John Barber [], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
      the shelly shore
  2. Resembling, or comprising, the shell of a mollusc
    • 1818, Charles Lamb, “On the Sight of Swans in Kensington Garden”, in The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb[2]:
      Shrined are your offspring in a chrystal cradle, / Brighter than Helen's ere she yet had burst / Her shelly prison.
    • 1906, Harry Caulton Reeks, Diseases of the Horse's Foot[3]:
      It is seen commonly in connection with flat-foot, and where the horn of the wall is thin and shelly.
  3. Abounding with shells.

Anagrams

[edit]