Found 1 items, similar to Carrier shell.
English → English (gcide) Definition: Carrier shell Carrier \Car"ri*er\, n. [From Carry.] 1. One who, or that which, carries or conveys; a messenger. [1913 Webster] The air which is but . . . a carrier of the sounds. --Bacon. [1913 Webster] 2. One who is employed, or makes it his business, to carry goods for others for hire; a porter; a teamster. [1913 Webster] The roads are crowded with carriers, laden with rich manufactures. --Swift. [1913 Webster] 3. (Mach.) That which drives or carries; as: (a) A piece which communicates to an object in a lathe the motion of the face plate; a lathe dog. (b) A spool holder or bobbin holder in a braiding machine. (c) A movable piece in magazine guns which transfers the cartridge to a position from which it can be thrust into the barrel. [1913 Webster] Carrier pigeon (Zo["o]l.), a variety of the domestic pigeon used to convey letters from a distant point to to its home. Carrier shell (Zo["o]l.), a univalve shell of the genus Phorus; -- so called because it fastens bits of stones and broken shells to its own shell, to such an extent as almost to conceal it. Common carrier (Law.) See under Common, a. [1913 Webster]