to shell
- verb
- /ʃɛl/
- Jargon
- After being shelled in the first inning, the pitcher struggled to regain his composure throughout the game.
Examples
-
The team was shelled by their opponents, resulting in a loss of 12 runs by the fifth inning.
-
Strasburg got shelled in two of his final three starts before the shutdown.
Blog text (10) -
Chuck James suffered a shoulder injury and was shelled in seven starts before a demotion to Richmond.
Blog text (14) -
In their last match, the star player was shelled, allowing multiple home runs before being pulled from the game.
Synonyms
To beat someone very badly in a game or match
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
To become more confident and willing to talk to other people
- Informal
To become quiet and avoid talking to others when you feel shy or anxious
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- Specialized
A metal object fired from a large gun that often has an explosive inside
- Specialized
A small case filled with many small metal balls that is fired from a shotgun
- Specialized
A company that exists only on paper and has no real business used to hide ownership or move money
- Archaic
A severe emotional and physical reaction after a long time in war or heavy fighting
A cheating street game where someone hides an object under cups and makes people guess where it is
A hard outer part of a sea animal that people use for decoration or to add calcium to soil
- Specialized
A group of electrons that surround an atom's centre at the same energy level
A crab that has a hard outer covering because it has not recently shed its skin
A fan-shaped shell with lines from the middle to the edge often used as a symbol
- Specialized
A sea animal with eight overlapping hard plates that clings to rocks
- Specialized
A sea animal with two shells and two arm-like parts with tentacles for feeding
- Specialized
A smooth rounded sea snail shell with a small top often found on sandy beaches
- Specialized
A sea animal that has a long thin shell open at both ends and a foot for digging in sand
- Specialized
A company that exists only on paper and has no real business often used to hide money
A tropical plant with large shiny leaves and white flowers with pink and yellow spots
- Australian
A small Australian parrot often bright green with black and yellow spots that people keep as a colorful pet
- Specialized
Metal plates that form the outside of a steel ship like planks on a wooden ship
- Jargon
A crochet pattern where several loops are made in one place to form a fan shape
- US
A colorful plant that grows in marshes with waxy long leaves and pink and white flowers
- Archaic
A small fast bomb fired from a gun that makes a loud whistling sound and then explodes with a bang
How Hard
Surface Forms
Etymology
Shell (in baseball, to hit hard) means to hit a pitcher very hard and often; the image of being 'bombarded' by many shells helps explain why it means to give up many runs.