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Smell vs Shell - What's the difference?

smell | shell |

In intransitive terms the difference between smell and shell

is that smell is to have a particular smell, whether good or bad; if descriptive, followed by "like" or "of" while shell is to cast the shell, or exterior covering; to fall out of the pod or husk.

As nouns the difference between smell and shell

is that smell is a sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance while shell is a hard external covering of an animal.

As verbs the difference between smell and shell

is that smell is to sense a smell or smells while shell is to remove the outer covering or shell of something. See sheller.

As a proper noun Shell is

a diminutive of the female given name Michelle.

smell

English

Noun

  • A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.
  • I love the smell of fresh bread.
  • * 1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows)
  • The penetrating smell' of cabbage reached the nose of Toad as he lay prostrate in his misery on the floor, and gave him the idea for a moment that perhaps life was not such a blank and desperate thing as he had imagined. But still he wailed, and kicked with his legs, and refused to be comforted. So the wise girl retired for the time, but, of course, a good deal of the ' smell of hot cabbage remained behind, as it will do, and Toad, between his sobs, sniffed and reflected, and gradually began to think new and inspiring thoughts: of chivalry, and poetry...
  • (physiology) The sense that detects odours.
  • Usage notes

    * Adjectives often applied to "smell": sweet, good, nice, great, pleasant, fresh, fragrant, bad, foul, unpleasant, horrible, terrible, awful, nasty, disgusting, funny, strange, odd, sour, funky, metallic, stinky, rotten, rancid, putrid, rank, fishy.

    Synonyms

    * (sensation) ** (pleasant) aroma, fragrance, odor/odour, scent ** (unpleasant) odor/odour, niff (informal), pong (informal), reek, stench, stink, whiff (informal) * (sense) olfaction (in technical use), sense of smell * See also

    Verb

  • To sense a smell or smells.
  • To have a particular smell, whether good or bad; if descriptive, followed by "like" or "of".
  • * , chapter=8
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Philander went into the next room
  • (without a modifier) To smell bad; to stink.
  • (figurative) To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savour.
  • * (John Milton)
  • Praises in an enemy are superfluous, or smell of craft.
  • (obsolete) To exercise sagacity.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • To detect or perceive; often with out .
  • * Shakespeare
  • I smell a device.
  • (obsolete) To give heed to.
  • * Latimer
  • From that time forward I began to smell the Word of God, and forsook the school doctors.

    Usage notes

    The sense "to smell bad, stink" is considered by some to be an incorrect substitute for stink.

    Synonyms

    * (sense a smell or smells) detect, sense * (have the smell of) (all followed by'' like''' ''or'' ' of ) ** (pleasant) ** (unpleasant) pong (informal), reek, stink, whiff (informal)

    Derived terms

    * code smells * sense of smell (see olfaction) * smell a rat * smell blood * smell like a rose * smell of an oily rag * smell test * smell the barn * smelly * wake up and smell the coffee

    See also

    * anosmia * sense

    References

    * *

    shell

    English

    (wikipedia shell)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A hard external covering of an animal.
  • # The calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates.
  • In some mollusks, as the cuttlefish, the shell is concealed by the animal's outer mantle and is considered internal.
  • Genuine mother of pearl buttons are made from sea shells .
  • # (by extension) Any mollusk having such a covering.
  • # (entomology) The exoskeleton or wing covers of certain insects.
  • # The conjoined scutes that comprise the "shell" (carapace) of a tortoise or turtle.
  • # The overlapping hard plates comprising the armor covering the armadillo's body.
  • The hard calcareous covering of a bird egg.
  • The hard external covering of various plant seed forms.
  • # The covering, or outside part, of a nut.
  • The black walnut and the hickory nut, both of the same ''Genus as the pecan, have much thicker and harder shells than the pecan.
  • # A pod containing the seeds of certain plants, such as the legume Phaseolus vulgaris .
  • # (in the plural) Husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is sometimes used as a substitute or adulterant for cocoa and its products such as chocolate.
  • The accreted mineral formed around a hollow geode.
  • The casing of a self-contained single-unit artillery projectile.
  • A hollow usually spherical or cylindrical projectile fired from a siege mortar or a smoothbore cannon. It contains an explosive substance designed to be ignited by a fuse or by percussion at the target site so that it will burst and scattered at high velocity its contents and fragments. Formerly called a bomb.
  • The cartridge of a breechloading firearm; a load; a bullet; a round.
  • Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in, as the shell of a house.
  • A garment, usually worn by women, such as a shirt, blouse, or top, with short sleeves or no sleeves, that often fastens in the rear.
  • A coarse or flimsy coffin; a thin interior coffin enclosed within a more substantial one.
  • (Knight)
  • (music) A string instrument, as a lyre, whose acoustical chamber is formed like a shell.
  • The first lyre may have been made by drawing strings over the underside of a tortoise shell.
  • * Dryden
  • when Jubal struck the chorded shell
  • (music) The body of a drum; the often wooden, often cylindrical acoustic chamber, with or without rims added for tuning and for attaching the drum head.
  • An engraved copper roller used in print works.
  • (nautical) The watertight outer covering of the hull of a vessel, often made with planking or metal plating.
  • (nautical, rigging) The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve.
  • (nautical) A light boat the frame of which is covered with thin wood, impermeable fabric, or water-proofed paper; a racing shell or dragon boat.
  • (computing) An operating system software user interface, whose primary purpose is to launch other programs and control their interactions; the user's command interpreter.
  • The name shell originates from it being viewed as an outer layer of interface between the user and the internals of the operating system.
    The name "Bash" is an acronym which stands for "Bourne-again shell", itself a pun on the name of the "Bourne shell", an earlier Unix shell designed by Stephen Bourne, and the Christian concept of being "born again".
  • (chemistry) A set of atomic orbitals that have the same principal quantum number.
  • An emaciated person.
  • He's lost so much weight from illness; he's a shell of his former self.
  • A psychological barrier to social interaction.
  • Even after months of therapy he's still in his shell .
  • (business) A legal entity that has no operations.
  • A shell corporation was formed to acquire the old factory.

    Derived terms

    * clamshell * clean shell * come out of one’s shell * eggshell * seashell * shellfish * shell script * shell suit * tortoiseshell

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To remove the outer covering or shell of something. See sheller.
  • To bombard, to fire projectiles at, especially with artillery.
  • (informal) To disburse or give up money, to pay. (Often used with out ).
  • To fall off, as a shell, crust, etc.
  • To cast the shell, or exterior covering; to fall out of the pod or husk.
  • Nuts shell in falling.
    Wheat or rye shells in reaping.
  • (computing) To switch to a shell or command line.
  • * 1993 , Robin Nixon, The PC Companion (page 115)
  • Automenu is a good program to try, and offers a fair amount of protection - but, unfortunately, it's one of those systems that allow users to shell to DOS.

    Derived terms

    * shell out

    Anagrams

    * hells