Shellback

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A worldly sailor.
"“Take that, for being a pumpkin-headed old shellback.”"
2
A sailor who has crossed the equator.

Synonyms

barnacle mariner old timer sailor salt vet

Example

"“Take that, for being a pumpkin-headed old shellback.”"

Etymology

From shell + back.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.