Shell Out

#####Shell out

Welcome to English in a Minute!

Removing a pea or nut from its pod is called shelling. But what dose it mean to do this?

To Shell Out!

Did you see that diamond ring on Marcy’s finger?!

I did! How much did Dave shell out for that?

I heard it was $10,000!

Whoa! I don’t think ANYTHING that is just going to sit on my hand is worth shelling out $10,000.

To “shell out” means to spend money. It is mostly used when the amount of money involved seems too high for what you bought.

In our example, Jonathan thinks Dave spent too much for a piece of jewelry.

And that’s English in a Minute!