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Glite Dictionary
shellwork

shellwork

1 7.0
Decorative items made by arranging or attaching sea shells
  • noun
  • /ˈʃɛlˌwɜrk/
: trabajo en conchas
  • Many visitors admired the shellwork decorations adorning the museum's coastal exhibit.

Examples

  • This ritual function and meaning of light, bright, and white material culture, shellwork in particular, may with confidence be projected far back into prehistory, as can the functions and meanings of black and red material culture.

    Academic text (1992)

  • The artist displayed her beautiful shellwork at the local craft fair.

  • He learned the skill of creating intricate shellwork from his grandmother.

Surface Forms

shellwork singular
shellworks plural

Morphology

shellwork = shell + work (transparent) = shell + work

Meaning is directly built from 'shell' + 'work' meaning objects or works made using shells, which a B1 learner can infer.

Etymology

Shellwork comes from the simple English parts shell ('a sea shell') and work ('something made by hand'). A helpful way to remember it is to imagine gluing shells onto a picture or box to make a decoration, which is exactly what shellwork means.