as in spends
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 shells out
Google already shells out billions to Apple each year to be the default search engine on iPhones.
—
Samantha Subin, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2026
Samantha Subin, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shells out
Verb
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Adamov, who sometimes spends long hours sheltering in the capsule, keeps a close eye on the devices from a short distance.—
Svitlana Vlasova,
CNN Money,
24 Jan. 2026
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This playful and comprehensive biographical documentary from director David Alvarado spends time with a deserving trailblazer whose name and accomplishments perhaps aren’t engraved in the American consciousness, but should be.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The 1970s were also a time of high-performance home audio and the JBL L100 Classic 80 pays tribute to that legacy by delivering refined acoustics, the latest materials and JBL’s build quality.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
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And the gig pays an average $30,480 a year.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Directly across from the hotel, guests can walk to a lift that gives them immediate access to Andermatt’s 112 miles of slopes—enough to keep you fully immersed in the winter wonderland for days on end.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
26 Jan. 2026
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Align with what actually uplevels you, not what confirms bias, is rage bait, or just gives a dopamine hit.—
Tribune Content Agency,
Baltimore Sun,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shells out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shells%20out. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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