shelled

Shelled is an adjective and the past tense form of the verb shell. As an adjective, it describes something that has a hard outer shell or is protected by a shell, or something that carries a shell. It is used in biology, agriculture, and food contexts to describe organisms or products that have shells or that have had their shells removed.

In biology, shelled animals include many mollusks such as snails, clams, and oysters, which possess calcareous shells. Some crustaceans have external coverings or exoskeletons described as shelled. The term also applies to eggs, nuts, and seeds that are in their shells, or to products that have had their shells removed, such as shelled peanuts or shelled corn (kernels).

As a verb, shelled is the past tense of shell. It can mean to remove the shell from nuts or seeds, to extract a shell from an egg or seed, or to bombard with artillery in a military context: for example, “the city was shelled.” It can also describe the act of shelling a target or object in various operational or culinary scenarios.

Usage notes: context determines meaning. In mechanical or culinary discussions, shelled often refers to removing shells from food items. In military reporting, shelled denotes artillery activity. The root is the noun shell, with the typical English use of the past-tense suffix -ed.