oyster shell
2
2.9
- noun
- /ˈɔɪstər ʃɛl/
:
concha de ostra
- The students are mesmerized as Mrs. Lewis walks around showing them the beautiful pearl in the oyster shell, and the students get to feel the rough oyster shell and the smooth pearl.
- spiny oyster shell
- oyster shell can be used
Examples
-
The oyster shell ring can now be viewed from a 120-foot-long boardwalk.
Academic text (1995) -
I also add in a little bit of oyster shell and some diatomaceous earth, so I feel like it's a really good blend.
-
Two piles of spiny oyster shells were at his feet.
Academic text (2009) -
The pharmaceutical industry also used ground oyster shell, incorporating it in pills to prevent osteoporosis.
Academic text (1996) -
Discarded oyster shells broke against the paving stones beneath her feet.
Fiction book (1996) -
Burning of oyster shells for lime also had some importance in Baltimore, with the product going to "sweeten" farmland.
Academic text (1996) -
They got bone meal, blood meal, fish meal, fish bone meal oyster shell which is really good, adds a lot of looseness to your soil and also adds calcium which is great.
-
The artist decorated the garden with beautiful arrangements of oyster shell for a unique touch.
-
She uses ground oyster shell as a natural source of calcium in her homemade fertilizer.
-
The coastal path was lined with oyster shells, creating a natural decoration along the way.
Synonyms
296
1.0
A hard outer covering that protects animals, eggs, or nuts
26
1.0
A hard curved cover left by a sea animal often found on beaches
1
4.4
A fan-shaped shell with lines from the middle to the edge often used as a symbol
1
8.2
A hard ribbed outer part of a small sea animal often found on beaches
A clam's two hard shells joined at one side that open and close
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the hard outer shell of an oyster' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'oyster' (the bivalve) and 'shell' (hard outer case). This literal noun–noun compound follows common compositional patterns cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Oyster shell comes from the sea animal oyster, which makes a hard shell to protect its soft body. People found these hard shells had a lot of 'calcium' and looked pretty, so they used crushed shells for soil and whole shells for 'decoration', which explains the modern uses of the term.