half shell
3
4.6
- noun
:
media concha
- Ever go to an oyster bar and have them raw on the half shell with some cocktail sauce?
- oysters on the half shell
Examples
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Can we go to Lindy's now so I can get some clams on the half shell?
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Between them was a platter of oysters on the half shell, a bottle of Tabasco, and two Jax beers.
Fiction book (1990) -
Oysters on the half shell.
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I wanna send over some clams on the half shell.
Fiction book (1997) -
Jack is eating clams on the half shell and talking to Amber.
Fiction book (1997) -
I swear, in less than a minute, the top of my tackle box was lined with half shells of fine oysters.
Fiction book (1997) -
On the half-shell, they usually sell for more than $1.00 each and often above $2.00 each in the northeastern United States.
Academic text (1996) -
Oysters on the half shell were good, but the mignonette was warm, not chilled, and much too vinegary.
Blog text (29) -
For oysters on the half-shell, many establishments served 10-15 varieties simultaneously.
Academic text (1996) -
The restaurant served fresh oysters on the half shell with lemon and hot sauce.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'half' + 'shell' denotes literally one of two parts of a shell, and in culinary contexts refers to a shell split in half used for serving (e.g. oysters on the half shell). This is a literal, cross‑linguistically common construction, so a B1 learner who knows both words would be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase half shell comes from the simple image of a shell cut in half and used like a small plate. That's why when you order oysters 'on the half shell', they arrive in the open shell halves as a serving dish.