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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Orion crew spends first day in space NASA's Orion spacecraft is pictured from one of the cameras mounted on its solar array wings on April 7.—
Mark Osborne,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2026
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BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The list price starts at a little over 12,000 for 200 milligram dosage, but the amount someone actually pays varies greatly.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
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The Pickford Award pays tribute to alumni whose achievements bring special distinction to the university and the industry.—
Patrick Hipes,
Deadline,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The thing that draws so many folks to New England and gives us such joy in the summertime can be an absolute party-pooper in the spring.—
Terry Eliasen,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
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Additionally, to stream HBO Max for free, opt for a subscription to one of DirecTV’s signature packages — Entertainment, Choice or Ultimate — which gives customers their first three months of HBO Max for free, along with Paramount+ Premium, STARZ, MGM+ and Cinemax.—
Erin Lassner,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shells out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shells%20out. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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