shellfish

noun

shell·​fish ˈshel-ˌfish 

: an aquatic invertebrate animal with a shell

especially : an edible mollusk or crustacean

Examples of shellfish in a Sentence

lobsters, crabs, and other shellfish

Recent Examples on the Web

Standout dishes include the fish sandwich, tuna melt and shellfish sausage. — Sacbee.com, 25 June 2026

The rules reportedly indicate shellfish is avoided, as is raw or rare meat. — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 3 July 2026

Other work has found that can include, for example, collecting shellfish near the shore. — Mark Axelrod, The Conversation, 30 June 2026

The menu was free of alpha-gal and of the nine most common food allergens—dairy, eggs, fish, peanuts, sesame, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat. — Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 29 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for shellfish

• bluefish
• catfish
• codfish
• crawfish
• dogfish
• finfish
• flatfish
• goldfish
• groundfish
• kingfish
• offish
• redfish

Kids Definition

shellfish

noun

shell·​fish ˈshel-ˌfish 

: an invertebrate animal that lives in water and has a shell

especially : an edible mollusk (as an oyster) or crustacean (as a crab)