go into one's shell
go into one's shell verb: to act defensively.
Verb
go into one's shell (third-person singular simple present goes into one's shell, present participle going into one's shell, simple past went into one's shell, past participle gone into one's shell)
- To act defensively.
- Instead of gathering the ball, De Gea poked it away with his foot and Streller was able to place a powerful half-volley into the net.
United went into their shells and it was not until the 29th minute that they mustered a response - one from which they should have equalised.2011 December 7, David Ornstein, “FC Basel 2 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport
- Instead of gathering the ball, De Gea poked it away with his foot and Streller was able to place a powerful half-volley into the net.
Forms of go into one's shell
| third-person singular present | goes into one's shell |
|---|---|
| present participle | going into one's shell |
| past | went into one's shell |
| past participle | gone into one's shell |
Origin of go into one's shell
From turtles, who go into their shells to protect themselves.
Questions about go into one's shell
- What does go into one's shell mean?
- Go into one's shell means to act defensively.
- What part of speech is go into one's shell?
- Go into one's shell is a verb.
- What is the past tense of go into one's shell?
- The past tense of go into one's shell is went into one's shell.
Words near go into one's shell in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: go into one's shell (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: en-au-go into one's shell.ogg.
Cite this entry: “go into one's shell.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/go_into_one%27s_shell. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.