SHELLED OUT Synonyms: 31 Similar and Opposite Words

shelled out

verb

past tense of shell out

as in paid

to hand over or use up in payment we shelled out an obscene amount of money for those concert tickets

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of shelled out The Malian cost Brentford just £37million from French club Lens – half the £75m Spurs shelled out for Fernandes and just over a third of Tonali’s fee. — Dan Kilpatrick, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026 The Salmonella Enteritidis Has Been Linked To Eggs The FDA has shelled out as well more info about the Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak infections that was first listed on the FDA website on June 10. — Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026 OpenAI shelled out some serious cash to host about 30 internet personalities at a luxury resort called Wildflower Farms in upstate New York over the weekend. — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026 Fox paid $485 million for the rights to the 2026 World Cup, while Telemundo shelled out $600 million for the Spanish-language telecasts. — Los Angeles Times, 22 July 2026 Now, with less than a month to go before the August 4th primary, AIPAC has already shelled out nearly five times that amount in pro-Stevens and anti-El-Sayed ads. — Jason Zengerle, New Yorker, 10 July 2026 According to Mamdani, Swift shelled out six-figures to make that happen. — Liza Esquibias, USA Today, 10 July 2026 Even at the height of the Miami’s summer slowdown, one buyer just shelled out more than $27 million for a home in the neighborhood at 790 Lake Rd. — Catherine Odom july 8, Miami Herald, 8 July 2026 While many gathered on the National Mall to watch a show Trump promised would break a world record, others shelled out big bucks for rooftop viewing. — Liam Scott, Washington Post, 5 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shelled out

Verb

Connie Britton paid tribute to Dolly Parton, less than two weeks after the loss of her Nashville costar Hayden Panettiere.

— Kathleen Perricone, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Aug. 2026
Carpenter is one of several stars who have paid tribute to Parton following the news of her death.

— Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of paid

Verb

While they’ve been spotted enjoying glitzy dinners and events in historic villas with friends in Saint-Tropez and Capri, really, the Clooneys have spent most of the summer at their home on Lake Como.

— Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 28 Aug. 2026
Instead, he’s spent August anxiously watching the orange skies from his house in the northern Nevada hills through two consecutive and adjacent wild-land fires, the Bug and Hawk Fires.

— Anya Kamenetz, Curbed, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of spent

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shelled

shelled out

shell game

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“Shelled out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shelled%20out. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of shelled out

verb

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