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# eggshell

«eggshell» in Mova's school dictionary: **the hard thin outside cover of an egg, which breaks easily** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an eggshell, eggshells); adjective (eggshell colour, eggshell paint)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An eggshell is the hard thin outside cover of an egg, which breaks easily. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#m1)

2) Eggshell is a very pale off-white colour, like the inside of an egg's shell. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#m2)

3) Eggshell paint is paint with a soft, slightly shiny finish. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#m3)

4) «Walking on eggshells» means being very careful not to upset someone who gets angry or hurt easily. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons eggshells are used to show that they are made of calcium carbonate, which fizzes in vinegar, and that a curved shell is surprisingly strong when pushed evenly. In cooking you must not get bits of eggshell in the cake mix; eggshells can go in the compost. The phrase «walking on eggshells» shows a tense feeling at home or in class. Phrases: crack the eggshell, bits of eggshell, eggshell white, walking on eggshells.

### examples

- She picked a bit of eggshell out of the pancake batter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#x1)
- We put the eggshells in the compost bin. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#x2)
- The chick pecked its way out of the eggshell. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#x3)
- We soaked an egg in vinegar until the eggshell disappeared. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#x4)
- Mum painted the hall in eggshell white. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#x5)
- Everyone was walking on eggshells after the big argument. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#x6)
- An eggshell is mostly made of calcium. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#x7)
- You can grow cress seeds in an empty eggshell. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#x8)
- As soon as the water started to boil--tac!--he broke the eggshell. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/#x9)

### note

Countable: one eggshell, many eggshells; also written as two words, «egg shell», but «eggshell» is more usual. Fun science fact: an eggshell is hard to crush when you squeeze it from both ends, because the dome shape spreads the push; it breaks easily on an edge. «Walking on eggshells» is an idiom, not about real eggs.

### In the corpora

- [The colour of an eggshell depends on the hen's breed, not on how healthy the egg is.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/287-farm-animals-milk-eggs-wool-and-meat/10/)
- [Eggshell is calcium carbonate; in vinegar it fizzes away over days and leaves a rubbery egg held by its thin skin.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/18-the-fizz-vinegar-lemon-and-soda/18/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «eggshell» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eggshell/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.