shelled

1. 1
   adjective

   Having had the outer shell or hard covering removed.

   The recipe calls for a cup of shelled pistachios.

   He served the shelled shrimp over a bed of rice.

   Similardeshelled

   Oppositeunshelled

   Note

   A word that faces two ways: the same spelling can describe a creature that wears a shell and a food whose shell has been taken off. In the kitchen, as in shelled peas or shelled nuts, the removal reading is nearly always meant. Where context could tip toward the "having a shell" meaning, deshelled says the same thing with no ambiguity.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of shell.

   Enemy artillery shelled the harbor before dawn.

   Reports confirmed that the rebels had shelled the capital overnight.

   Note

   A single past form covers every use of the verb, whether the shell is peeled off or fired: she shelled the peas, the guns had shelled the town, the capital was shelled. With out, it turns to money in informal speech, as in he shelled out for dinner. Before a noun, the participle settles into the 'shell removed' adjective, as in shelled peas.

3. 3
   adjectivein compounds

   Having a shell, as a snail, crab, or turtle does.

   Shelled mollusks such as clams and mussels filter water for food.

   The tide pool was full of shelled invertebrates clinging to the rocks.

   Note

   The word does most of its work at the end of a compound, such as hard-shelled, soft-shelled or thick-shelled, and zoology gives it a learned twin, testaceous. Watch the ambiguity: shelled mollusks still have their shells, while the kitchen sense means the shell is gone. Context nearly always decides, and even a slug can be shelled, as Testacella is.

4. 4
   adjectiveslang

   Unable to keep up in a race after using up one's reserves of energy.

   On the final lap the breakaway riders were shelled one by one.

   Completely shelled, he watched the peloton ride away without him.

   Similardropped, spent, exhausted, cooked

   Oppositefresh

   Note

   Cycling slang for the rider the bunch leaves behind: attack follows attack until the legs give out and the rider is shelled off the back. It usually comes in the passive (got shelled, was shelled), as something the race does to you. Keep it for talk among riders and fans. In a formal race report, dropped is the neutral word.

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