shell out

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shell out

verb shells out · shelling out · shelled out

ambitransitive, informal To pay money, to disburse; especially, to pay a great deal of money. Do you think we should shell out for the extra options package?
Similar: cough up, fork out, fork over
Unix, especially To use a program's "shell escape" function to execute an unrelated command or to invoke a subsidiary, interactive shell.

noun

obsolete, uncountable A game played on a billiard table, a variation of pool. I have more than once had to lend a commercial money to pay his fare home; as he had played shell-out and lost the lot.

Translations

Every language

verb pay money

Français	aligner, banquer, casquer
Deutsch	bezahlen, Geld ausgeben
Русский	раскоше́ливаться raskošélivatʹsja, раскоше́литься raskošélitʹsja

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MLA

"shell out." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shell%20out. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

shell out. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shell%20out

Chicago

"shell out." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shell%20out.

BibTeX

@misc{shell_out_2026,
  title = {shell out},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shell%20out},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}