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

The others are eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, sesame and soybeans. —Toby Meyjes, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2025

It’s made for eating shellfish with your hands, grease on your fingers, and yelling across the table in the heat of the day. —John Noakes, Hartford Courant, 12 Aug. 2025

Wheat and soy are some of the nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. —Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 11 Aug. 2025

Oysters and other shellfish are the most common carriers of Vibrio. —Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025

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)