shell-like

British  

adjective

1. resembling the empty shell of a mollusc

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noun

1. slang an ear (esp in the phrase a word in your shell-like )

Example Sentences

Insects and other arthropods, which make up the vast majority of animals on Earth, instead possess a shell-like exoskeleton, which is mainly composed of a tough, flexible material called cuticle.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 5, 2023

It means the shell-like egg case didn’t evolve from the ancestral shell, but it is the argonauts’ own evolutionary innovation for a new purpose.

From New York Times • Nov. 5, 2022

Instead, the researchers’ analysis found that S. bideni’s inner shell is a gladius, a triangular shell-like remnant found in squids and vampire squids.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 11, 2022

Arians, always unsparing of his star quarterback, said Brady could have held the ball longer against Washington’s shell-like defensive alignment at times.

From Washington Post • Nov. 14, 2021

And on the beach the white and blue canoes that came from Nayarit were drawn up, canoes preserved for generations by a hard shell-like waterproof plaster whose making was a secret of the fishing people.

From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck