shell-fish
(ˈʃɛlfɪʃ)
[OE. scilfisc = ON. skelfiskr.]
Any animal living in water whose outer covering is a shell, whether testaceous, as an oyster, or crustaceous, as a crab.
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xli. §5 Maniᵹe sint cwucera ᵹesceafta unstirende, swa swa nu scylfiscas sint. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. met. v. (1868) 50 Þe blode of a manar shelfysshe þat men fynden in tyrie, wiþ whiche blode men deien purper. Ibid. v. pr. v. 21 Oystres and muscles and oþer swiche shelle fysshe of þe see. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 69 Schel fische and scalid fisch. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 705/26 Hoc conchile, alle maner schelfyche. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 22 The shelle fyshe called the Tortoyse of the sea. 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God v. vi. 204 Crabs..and all shel-fishes. a 1691 Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 179 The Clacas, which is absolutely the very best Shell-fish in the World. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. 255 Shell⁓fish are nourishing. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Shell⁓fish, the term is chiefly applied in commerce to crabs, lobsters, and cray-fish, oysters, mussels, periwinkles, and whelks, in which a large trade is carried on. |
| Comb. 1837 Thackeray Professor Wks. 1899 XIII. 496 The father of Miss Adeliza Grampus was a shell-fishmonger. 1896 J. Lamb Ann. Ayrshire Parish i. 21 A happy hunting⁓ground for shell-fish gatherers. |
b. fig. of a person.
| 1809 Malkin Gil Blas xii. v. (Rtldg.) 430 Open-mouthed and impenetrable shell-fish. |
Hence
ˈshell-ˌfishery,
ˈshell-ˌfishing.
| 1868 Harper's Mag. Dec. 12/2 Our men, some of whom were practiced in the business of shell-fishing,..very soon dug up a very fine feast of clams. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 108/1 The cultivation of oysters and other shell-fisheries. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 31 Oct. 12/1 The shell-fishing..has been wonderfully successful. |