as in spending
to hand over or use up in payment
we shelled out an obscene amount of money for those concert tickets
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Recent Examples of shelling out
On average, families are now shelling out $774 per child for back-to-school gear — marking a 10% rise from last year’s spending.
—
Erin Jones, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025
And is anyone shelling out upwards of $100 for the ride?
—Carolina Abbott Galvão, Rolling Stone, 1 Sep. 2025
Powe still comes by once a week to drop off snacks for kids in the hotel — chips, cookies, jerky, fruit snacks, Little Debbie’s, whatever is on sale — shelling out about $100 or more of her own money every week doing so.
—Josh Wood, The Courier-Journal, 29 Aug. 2025
Despite extra caution, parents are still shelling out for the new school year.
—Emily Lorsch, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2025
Waiting in overnight lines to buy the $30 mischievous dolls, or shelling out $100 to resellers, has lost its appeal.
—Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2025
While that lineup is enticing customers, Rocco is seeing the luxury market beginning to hold back from shelling out on big purchases.
—Eileen Falkenberg-Hull, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Aug. 2025
Meta has been shelling out big bucks to recruit top AI talent away from rivals such as OpenAI, Google and Apple for its new Meta Superintelligence Labs team.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
That hit would come after several years of the city shelling out millions more in pension contributions to prevent the funds from cannibalizing their own assets.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2025
Erin Jones, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025
And is anyone shelling out upwards of $100 for the ride?
—Carolina Abbott Galvão, Rolling Stone, 1 Sep. 2025
Powe still comes by once a week to drop off snacks for kids in the hotel — chips, cookies, jerky, fruit snacks, Little Debbie’s, whatever is on sale — shelling out about $100 or more of her own money every week doing so.
—Josh Wood, The Courier-Journal, 29 Aug. 2025
Despite extra caution, parents are still shelling out for the new school year.
—Emily Lorsch, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2025
Waiting in overnight lines to buy the $30 mischievous dolls, or shelling out $100 to resellers, has lost its appeal.
—Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2025
While that lineup is enticing customers, Rocco is seeing the luxury market beginning to hold back from shelling out on big purchases.
—Eileen Falkenberg-Hull, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Aug. 2025
Meta has been shelling out big bucks to recruit top AI talent away from rivals such as OpenAI, Google and Apple for its new Meta Superintelligence Labs team.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
That hit would come after several years of the city shelling out millions more in pension contributions to prevent the funds from cannibalizing their own assets.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shelling out
Verb
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After spending the first nine years of his career with the Washington Capitals, Johansson was traded to the New Jersey Devils in the summer of 2017, just before the Caps broke through with their Cup win.—
Carol Schram,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
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Simon-Kucher also has a new holiday shopping report, which surveyed consumers in July, and is forecasting Gen Z shoppers to reduce their holiday shopping budget by only 1%, from $814 to $805, while Millennials will be spending 14% more year over year.—
Betty Lin-Fisher,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The average vehicle sells for nearly $50,000 and almost 20% of new car buyers are paying $1,000 or more a month, the report said.—
Betty Lin-Fisher,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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Richard Linklater’s French-language black-and-white film Nouvelle Vague, paying tribute to the French New Wave movement, initially looked like one of the strongest candidates for the honor.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The club fees paid by growers go to marketing investments used for websites, TikToks, and ads, giving it wider appeal.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
12 Sep. 2025
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As the overall matter heads towards its March 9, 2026 trial date start, Judge Liman will have the final word – for now – on bringing Swift on board and giving Baldoni and his Wayfarer co-founders more time for their own depositions.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shelling out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shelling%20out. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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