Meaning & use
seashell
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Meanings
nouncountable
The hard outer covering of a sea creature such as a snail or clam, often found empty on the beach.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a seashell, two seashells, or collect seashells.
Patterns
- collect seashells
- find a seashell
- a seashell on the beach
She picked up a pink seashell and put it in her pocket.
The children spent the afternoon collecting seashells along the shore.
He held the seashell to his ear and listened to the sound of the ocean.
nouncountable or uncountable
The shell of a sea mollusk used as a material for making buttons, jewelry, or decorations.
Grammar: Can be countable (a seashell button) or uncountable as a material (made of seashell).
Patterns
- made of seashell
- a seashell necklace
- seashell buttons
The artisan carved a small bird from a single seashell.
She wore a necklace made of tiny seashells and beads.
The old shirt had buttons made of polished seashell.
Word forms
| plural | seashells |
|---|
Common combinations
- collect seashells
- We collect seashells every summer at the beach.
- seashell necklace
- He bought a seashell necklace as a souvenir.
- a seashell in the sand
- I spotted a white seashell half buried in the sand.
- listen to a seashell
- The children like to listen to a seashell and pretend they hear the sea.
- seashell pattern
- The wallpaper has a delicate seashell pattern.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: seashell or sea shell?
seashell vs sea shell
The two-word form sea shell is also used, but the single word seashell is more common and standard in modern English.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'seashell' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Seashell is a noun meaning the hard outer covering of a sea creature. Option 0 uses it as a noun object. Options 1 and 3 use it as a verb, which is not correct. Option 2 is wrong because a seashell is not a fish; it is the shell of a mollusk.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “seashell”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.