as in to spend
to hand over or use up in payment
we shelled out an obscene amount of money for those concert tickets
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shell out
In other security news, OpenAI is ditching passwords in favor of hardware security keys, which is a welcome change considering how valuable ChatGPT accounts can be, especially for those willing to shell out money for pro-level accounts.
—
Alan Henry, PC Magazine, 1 May 2026
Mark Davis paid $2 million for Vegas, while the group led by Larry Gottesdiener shelled out $5 million.
—Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 1 May 2026
The costs of chips are rising as tech giants shell out billions on computing power.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 30 Apr. 2026
Ultimately, taxpayers will be the ones to shell out tens of millions of dollars more to fight summer wildfires this year.
—Austin Amestoy, NPR, 30 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shell out
Alan Henry, PC Magazine, 1 May 2026
Mark Davis paid $2 million for Vegas, while the group led by Larry Gottesdiener shelled out $5 million.
—Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 1 May 2026
The costs of chips are rising as tech giants shell out billions on computing power.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 30 Apr. 2026
Ultimately, taxpayers will be the ones to shell out tens of millions of dollars more to fight summer wildfires this year.
—Austin Amestoy, NPR, 30 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shell out
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shell out
Verb
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This is not fusion, but testament to the world as one big town, as perhaps only a third-culture kid — with Filipino and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry, and a girlhood spent in the Deep South — would know.—
Ligaya Mishan,
New York Times,
11 May 2026
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Barker worked at Starbucks and spent every free moment writing and shooting.—
Alex Barasch,
New Yorker,
11 May 2026
Verb
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If all of that stuff has to be paid for by hard campaign dollars, dollars that would be disclosed within 100 days to who?—
NBC news,
NBC news,
10 May 2026
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The annual event pays homage to the 27 million Soviet citizens who died in that war.—
Guy Faulconbridge,
USA Today,
10 May 2026
Verb
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Ahead, experts lay out the process for us.—
Kirsten Nunez,
Martha Stewart,
1 May 2026
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Defense filings in the New York case lay out Dukes’ path into the music industry.—
Tess Kenny,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shell out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shell%20out. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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