Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A sailor who has crossed the equator.
- noun A veteran sailor.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An old sailor; a seadog; a barnacle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
worldly sailor - noun a sailor who has already crossed the equator
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The "shellback" initiation is a traditional ceremony dating back to when Noah was a boy.
Archive 2005-01-01 Zoe Brain 2005
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In speech, the old-time 'shellback' was notoriously reticent -- almost inarticulate; but in song he found self-expression, and all the romance and poetry of the sea are breathed into his shanties, where simple childlike sentimentality alternates with the Rabelaisian humour of the grown man.
The Shanty Book, Part I, Sailor Shanties Richard Runciman Terry 1901
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A wiry, slight man though a real "shellback," one who had been steeped in and saturated with every sea, was "giving the sea best," nerve-shaken, so he said -- and yet sailing a cutter with but 3 or 4 inches of free board "single-handed."
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"Welcome aboard the _Yorkshire Lass_, mister," I was greeted by a great burly specimen of the British "shellback", as I stepped in over the rail.
The Strange Adventures of Eric Blackburn Harry Collingwood 1886
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Not to cast doubt upon her reputation, but our due diligence tells us that she holds letters of marque from IMPERIUM NEPTUNUS REGIS and has earned the right to be called a shellback.
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It is said that those who fail to appear before Neptunus Rex are forever damned as pirates, and no shellback shall ever tread upon the deck of a pollywog without incurring the wrath of said monarch.
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The old shellback glanced at me; but only muttered something, and went on his way aft.
The Ghost Pirates 2007
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What does my being a shellback have anything to do with being a no-show?
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Yes, I am a shellback initiated into the Ancient Order of the Solemn Mysteries of the Deep.
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Her shellback thimblecasket mirror only can show her dearest friendeen.
Finnegans Wake 2006
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