Word.ws English Dictionary

eggshell

/ˈɛɡʃɛl/

eggshell noun: the shell around an egg.

eggshell: the shell around an egg
Image: CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

eggshell (countable and uncountable, plural eggshells)

  1. The shell around an egg.
    • Like Egge-ſhels mou'd upon their Surges, crack'd / As eaſily ’gainſt our Rockes.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  2. A pale off-white colour, like that of the eggshell of many chickens.

Adjective

eggshell (comparative more eggshell, superlative most eggshell)

  1. Of a pale yellowish-whitish colour, like that of the eggshell.
    • The ceiling panels are in off-white eggshell semi-matt finish.1959 January, “Single-Unit Diesel Railcars for the Western Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 57
  2. Exhibiting the thinness, translucency or near-transparency, and fragility of an eggshell.
    • eggshell porcelain
  3. Very matt, having a low reflexivity, like an eggshell.
    • This clear varnish is available in gloss, matt and eggshell finishes.

eggshell meaning in Tamil, Arabic, Indonesian and Thai

eggshell in Tamil

object
முட்டையோடு muṭṭaiyōṭu

eggshell in Arabic

object
قَشْر الْبَيْضِ qašr al-bayḍi

eggshell in Indonesian

object
kulit telur

eggshell in Thai

object
เปลือกไข่ bplʉ̀ʉak-kài
More languagesFewer languages
eggshell in Vietnamese
vỏ trứng

Forms of eggshell

Noun
pluraleggshells
Adjective
comparativemore eggshell
superlativemost eggshell

Origin of eggshell

From Middle English eggeshell, ege schelle, egg-shel, egg shelle (also as Middle English eye schell, ey-schel, ey-schelle), partially continuing Old English ǣġsċill, ǣġsċyll (“eggshell”), equivalent to egg + shell. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Oaierskil (“eggshell”), Dutch eierschaal (“eggshell”), German Eierschale (“eggshell”), Danish æggeskal (“eggshell”), Swedish äggskal (“eggshell”).

Words formed from eggshell

Phrases with eggshell

Questions about eggshell

What does eggshell mean?
Eggshell means the shell around an egg.
What is eggshell in Tamil?
Eggshell in Tamil is முட்டையோடு (muṭṭaiyōṭu). See Eggshell meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is eggshell?
Eggshell can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce eggshell?
Eggshell is pronounced /ˈɛɡʃɛl/.
What is the plural of eggshell?
The plural of eggshell is eggshells.

Words near eggshell in the dictionary

  1. eggsadilla
  2. eggsadillas
  3. eggsalad
  4. eggsalads
  5. eggshaped
  6. eggshell
  7. eggshell blue
  8. eggshell blues
  9. eggshell rule
  10. eggshell rules
  11. eggshellful

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: eggshell (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-eggshell.wav.

Cite this entry: “eggshell.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/eggshell. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.