seashell

seashell — noun

1. the hard, hollow outer casing left behind by a tiny sea creature such as a clam

1.nounB1
Definition

the hard, hollow outer casing left behind by a tiny sea creature such as a clam or snail, often found on the beach after the animal has died

Example

Lauren picked up a pink seashell and held it up to her ear.

verb + seashell: pick up, hold up

The children collected seashells along the shore during low tide.

collocation: collect seashells

Common collocations
  • pick up a seashell
  • collect seashells
  • broken seashell
  • colourful seashells
  • seashell on the beach
  • seashell collection
Synonyms
  • shell

    more general term — can refer to the hard covering of any animal (egg, turtle, snail), not only sea creatures

  • conch

    a specific type of large spiral seashell from tropical sea snails

  • scallop

    a specific type of fan-shaped seashell with ridges

Usage Note

Commonly used in craft contexts (jewellery, decorations) and as a countable noun: 'a seashell', 'some seashells', 'thousands of seashells'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Shell is the broadest term, covering any hard outer covering — from eggshells to turtle shells to seashells. Seashell narrows the meaning to the shell of a marine animal, usually empty and found on a beach. Conch refers specifically to the large, spiral shell of certain tropical sea snails, often used decoratively or as a horn. Scallop describes a fan-shaped, ridged seashell from a bivalve mollusc, commonly seen in seafood dishes and as a decorative motif. For example, a child might collect seashells of all shapes along the shore, bring home a single prized conch from a holiday, and notice a scallop design on a restaurant's logo.

shell ↗conchscallop

Common collocations

Nouns

  • seashell collector
  • seashell necklace
  • seashell jewellery
  • seashell decoration

Phrases

  • a handful of seashells
  • a basket of seashells
  • a collection of seashells

Prepositions

  • on the beach
  • along the shore
  • in the sand
  • by the sea

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Seashell is a compound word formed by combining 'sea' (from Old English sǣ, meaning a large body of salt water) and 'shell' (from Old English scell, meaning a hard outer covering). It first appeared in English writing around the early 1500s.