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hard-shell

[ hahrd-shel ]

/ ˈhɑrdˌʃɛl /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR hard-shell ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

Also hard-shelled. having a firm, hard shell, as a crab in its normal state; not having recently molted.

rigid or uncompromising.

noun

hard-shell crab.

Origin of hard-shell

First recorded in 1790–1800

Words nearby hard-shell

hard-pressed, hard-put, hard-rock, hard-sell, hard-set, hard-shell, hard-shell clam, hard-shell crab, hard-spun, hard-surface, hard-ticket

Example sentences from the Web for hard-shell

There are reasons, in other words, for hard-shell conservatives to give him the gimlet eye.

Rand Paul Woos the Base With Hot Monica Lewinsky Talk |Michael Tomasky |February 12, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
One main culprit was the hard-shell helmet that had essentially become a spearing weapon.

Super Bowl XLVIII Is Set to Be the Most Violent One Yet |Evin Demirel |January 30, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
What the hard-shell righties want to know is not about the boring issue of consular security.

The Nonexistent Case Against Susan Rice Crumbles |Michael Tomasky |November 16, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
From a policy perspective, this is the next battleground, the pressure point of resistance for the hard-shell ideologues.

The Resistance Begins: Rick Scott Announces Florida Won't Take Medicaid Money |Michael Tomasky |July 2, 2012 |DAILY BEAST

When the oyster season closes in April, the hard-shell clam comes into vogue, the season lasting until September or October.

The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide |Augusta Foote Arnold
He is such a hard-shell being that he cannot put out feelers to his kind.

Greenmantle |John Buchan
The former is sold in the San Francisco markets as the "hard-shell clam."

The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide |Augusta Foote Arnold
M—— was a Hard-shell Baptist, and owned the church, which was built also of logs.

The Minute Man of the Frontier |W. G. Puddefoot
Find out what you yourself really do think, and if you turn out a Sun-worshiper or a Hard-shell Baptist, why, good luck.

The Trail of the Hawk |Sinclair Lewis

British Dictionary definitions for hard-shell

hard-shell

adjective also: hard-shelled

zoology having a shell or carapace that is thick, heavy, or hard

US strictly orthodox

noun

another name for the quahog