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View synonyms for shellback

shellback

[ shel-bak ]

noun

  1. an old sailor.
  2. a person who has crossed the equator by boat.


shellback

/ ˈʃɛlˌbæk /

noun

  1. informal.
    a sailor who has crossed the equator Compare polliwog
  2. an experienced or old sailor
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of shellback1

First recorded in 1880–85; shell + back 1
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Example Sentences

Swedish producers Max Martin (“I Kissed a Girl”) and Shellback collaborate on some of her feistiest tunes.

How could he give his life, with all its fair possibilities, all its high hopes, for this worn-out old shellback?

At seven o'clock we dined together in the saloon—the skipper, an old shellback whom Walworth had picked up, sitting down with us.

The word was no sooner spoken than our shellback again excelled himself.

“The old shellback has our skipper,” whispered Captain Folsom to the boys.

Skinner, you don't suppose Matt's like every other shellback of a skipper?

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shellackingshellbark