shellback

English

Etymology

From shell +‎ back. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “...but why?”)

Noun

shellback (plural shellbacks)

1. A worldly sailor.

   Synonym: barnacle

   • 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 161:

     “Take that, for being a pumpkin-headed old shellback.”

2. A sailor who has crossed the equator.

Derived terms

• shellback crab

 

Anagrams

• back shell, backshell