sea shell

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   The hard outer case of a small sea animal, especially one found empty on a beach.

   Grammar: Countable: you can say a sea shell or two sea shells.

   Patterns

   • a sea shell on the beach
   • collect sea shells
   • a sea shell collection

   She held a pink sea shell to her ear and pretended to hear the ocean.

   The children filled a bucket with sea shells and smooth stones.

   We walked along the shore looking for sea shells after the tide went out.

2. 2nouncountabletechnical

   The hard outer covering of a sea creature such as a snail or clam while the animal is still alive inside it.

   Grammar: Countable; often used in the plural when talking about many animals.

   Patterns

   • the sea shell of a snail
   • sea shells on the seabed
   • a creature with a sea shell

   The hermit crab moves into an empty sea shell to protect its soft body.

   Tiny sea shells were stuck to the rocks below the water line.

   Biologists measured the thickness of the sea shell to check how the water was changing.

Word forms

Common combinations

collect sea shells

My grandmother used to collect sea shells on her summer holidays.

a sea shell collection

He keeps his sea shell collection in a glass case.

a sea shell on the beach

There was a beautiful sea shell on the beach just below the dunes.

the sound of the sea in a shell

She says you can hear the sound of the sea in a shell.

sea shells and stones

The path was covered with sea shells and stones.

Synonyms and how they differ

seashell

The same thing, but written as one word; this spelling is very common in American English.

shell

Shorter and more general; it also covers eggs, nuts, and land snails, so use sea shell when you mean one from the ocean.

Word family

seashell noun

A one-word spelling of the same thing.

shell noun

The general word for any hard outer case.

shellfish noun

A sea animal with a shell that people eat, such as a crab or oyster.

Commonly confused: sea shell or sea snail? sea shell or seashore?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “sea shell”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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