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)

A worldly sailor.
Synonym: barnacle
- 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 161:
  “Take that, for being a pumpkin-headed old shellback.”
A sailor who has crossed the equator.

Derived terms

shellback crab

Anagrams

back shell, backshell