Synonyms for shelling
- blast
- bombardment
- fusillade
- gunfire
- hail
- salvo
- shower
- storm
- volley
- battery
- broadside
- cannonade
- crossfire
- discharge
- enfilade
- fire
- curtain of fire
EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR SHELLING
And how on earth I never hit on it before—when it's as simple as shelling peas!
The trouble is an ancient one and is designated as "shelling" or "rattling."
There wasn't even a shed there, and she was shelling the bush.
At the distance of about one mile the rebels were shelling us.
The shelling brought to light, however, a peculiarity of the dog.
The worse the weather or the shelling the higher that duty was.
"Nothing unusual," replied the colonel, shelling a plover's egg.
They are shelling Strassbourg with mortars; the city is on fire.
The Germans managed to kill one man yesterday with their shelling.
A cloth is spread over the rack to catch any shelling seeds.
WORD ORIGIN
Old English sciell, scill, Anglian scell "seashell, eggshell," related to Old English scealu "shell, husk," from Proto-Germanic *skaljo "piece cut off; shell; scale" (cf. West Frisian skyl "peel, rind," Middle Low German schelle "pod, rind, egg shell," Gothic skalja "tile"), with the shared notion of "covering that splits off," from PIE root *(s)kel- (1) "to cut, cleave" (cf. Old Church Slavonic skolika "shell," Russian skala "bark, rind;" see scale (n.1)). Italian scaglia "chip" is from Germanic.
Sense of "mere exterior" is from 1650s; that of "hollow framework" is from 1791. Meaning "structure for a band or orchestra" is attested from 1938. Military use (1640s) was first of hand grenades, in reference to the metal case in which the gunpowder and shot were mixed; the notion is of a "hollow object" filled with explosives. Hence shell shock, first recorded 1915. Shell game "a swindle" is from 1890, from a version of three-card monte played with a pea and walnut shells.