Search the Dictionary

A genus of small pectinibranch mollusks, having thick spiral shells, abundant between tides on nearly all rocky seacoasts. They feed on seaweeds. The common periwinkle is a well-known example. See Periwinkle.

A word; reason; speech. H. Bushell.

The protective case or shell of an infusorian or rotifer.

Covered with a shell or exterior made of plates somewhat like a coat of mail, as in the armadillo.

A grayish brown limestone, containing fossil shells, which reflect a beautiful play of colors. It is also called fire marble, from its fiery reflections.

A special area in front of the beak of many bivalve shells. It sometimes has the shape of a double crescent, but is oftener heart- shaped. See Illust. of Bivalve.

A high explosive consisting principally of picric acid, used as a shell explosive in the British service; -- so named from the proving grounds at Lydd, England.

An order of brachiopods, in which the valves of shell are not articulated by a hinge. It includes the Lingula, Discina, and allied forms. [Written also Lyopoma.]

A musician who plays on the harp or lyre; a composer of lyrical poetry. Shelley.

A genus of spiral gastropod shells, often of large size, characteristic of the lower Silurian rocks.

Any marine bivalve shell of the genus Mactra, and allied genera. Many species are known. Some of them are used as food, as Mactra stultorum, of Europe. See Surf clam, under Surf.

Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc. We . . . strip the lobster of his scarlet mail. Gay.

A genus of bivalve shells; the hammer shell.

Bounded like a nipple; -- said of the apex of some shells.

A genus of small, polished, marine univalve shells, native of all warm seas.

, or with navigation or naval affairs; nautical; as, marine productions or bodies; marine shells; a marine engine.

n. -- Marking nut (Bot.), the nut of the Semecarpus Anacardium, an East Indian tree. The shell of the nut yields a blackish resinous juice used for marking cotton cloth, and an oil prepared from it is used for rheumatism.

An explosive shell. See Marron, 3.

Inlaid work; work inlaid with pieces of wood, shells, ivory, and the like, of several colors.

A paper or pasteboard box or shell, wound about with strong twine, filled with an explosive, and ignited with a fuse, -- used to make a noise like a cannon. [Written also maroon.]