Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A hard-shell clam or hard-shell crab.
 - adjective Having a thick, heavy, or hardened shell.
 - adjective Uncompromising; confirmed.
 
from The Century Dictionary.
- In zoology, having a hard Shell.
 - Rigidly and narrowly orthodox; conservative; uncompromising.
 - noun A hard-shelled crab or clam.
 - noun   See 
Hard , n., 5 . 
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Colloq., U.S. Unyielding; insensible to argument; uncompromising; strict.
 
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Having a rigid shell
 - adjective   Refusing to 
compromise ;confirmed ordeep-rooted  
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Sis Belle was what was called a hard-shell Baptist, loyal to the death and disdainful of rivals.
CLEAR PICTURES REYNOLDS PRICE 1988
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Sis Belle was what was called a hard-shell Baptist, loyal to the death and disdainful of rivals.
CLEAR PICTURES REYNOLDS PRICE 1988
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He visits a Taco Bell about once a month, ordering steak burritos and hard-shell ground-beef tacos.
Taco Bell Makes Spicy Retort to Suit Julie Jargon 2011
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We talk about Tex-Mex food but the more I think about it, it is actually Cal-Mex cuisine, from crumbly hard-shell tacos to velvety-rich guacamole to the eye-opening margarita, that has shaped our preferences for south-of-the-border fare.
Jay Weston: El Cholo -- Delicious Mexican Food for Cinco de Mayo Jay Weston 2011
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They can be had for less than $100, including a few molded, hard-shell plastic models.
What to Get a Golfer for the Holidays John Paul Newport 2011
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Nikki Heat (instead of Kate Beckett) is the attractive, hard-shell cop he works with.
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We talk about Tex-Mex food but the more I think about it, it is actually Cal-Mex cuisine, from crumbly hard-shell tacos to velvety-rich guacamole to the eye-opening margarita, that has shaped our preferences for south-of-the-border fare.
Jay Weston: El Cholo -- Delicious Mexican Food for Cinco de Mayo Jay Weston 2011
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Video demonstration guru KipKay details how to make backyard lanterns from hard-shell gourds.
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Many of the people who are in the forefront of the effort to promote marriage equality are members of the clergy in a lot of religious denominations ranging from mainstream Protestant to hard-shell Roman Catholic.
Faith Losing 2009
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Addressing the recent survey made among professional racers, UCI technical advisor Jean Wauthier reminded the people at the January 7 meeting about what riders thought before hard-shell helmets were made mandatory a decade ago.
 
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