hard-shell

[ hahrd-shel ]

adjective

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

noun

1. hard-shell crab.

hard-shell

adjective

1. zoology having a shell or carapace that is thick, heavy, or hard
2. strictly orthodox

noun

1. another name for the quahog

Word History and Origins

Origin of hard-shell¹

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

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

From The Daily Beast

One main culprit was the hard-shell helmet that had essentially become a spearing weapon.

From The Daily Beast

What the hard-shell righties want to know is not about the boring issue of consular security.

From The Daily Beast

From a policy perspective, this is the next battleground, the pressure point of resistance for the hard-shell ideologues.

From The Daily Beast

He has a hard shell, but he is a good fellow, and as innocent of his brother's death as I am.

From Project Gutenberg

Confucianism added layer after layer of hard shell about the inert organism of social life.

From Project Gutenberg

The two creatures had become so well acquainted that the old Hard Shell fully trusted the lively little fellow.

From Project Gutenberg

The Almonds commonly sold by nurserymen in the east are hard-shell varieties, and the nuts are not good enough for commerce.

From Project Gutenberg

But perhaps he never stopped to think that one might almost as well bite a rock as his hard shell.

From Project Gutenberg