shell out


verb
  1. (adverb) informal to pay out or hand over (money)

Origin of shell out

1
C19: from shell (in the sense: to remove from a pod or (figuratively) a purse)

Words Nearby shell out

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

How to use shell out in a sentence

  • Old Jackson wouldnt shell out sixpence to save her or anybody else from the gallows.

    Recollections of a Policeman | William Russell (aka Thomas Waters)
  • Brother Flint will please pass round the hat, and let every Hard-shell shell out.

  • If you would have a seat where you can see and hear still more comfortably you must shell out half-a-crown.

    The Religious Life of London | J. Ewing Ritchie
  • She wondered if she would ever be able to return to the shell out of which the ironic humour of chance had thrust her.

    The Pagan Madonna | Harold MacGrath
  • His chief creditor threatened law proceedings against him if he didn't shell out slick.

    Kiddie the Scout | Robert Leighton

Other Idioms and Phrases with shell out

shell out

Pay, hand over, as in We had to shell out $1,000 for auto repairs. This expression transfers taking a seed such as a pea or nut out of its pod or shell to taking money out of one's pocket. [Colloquial; c. 1800]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.