to retire into one's shell
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To become reticent and uncommunicative, to withdraw oneself from society in a forbidding way. The allusion is to the tortoise, which, once it has "got into its shell," is quite unget-at-able.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to retire into one's shell” mean?
To become reticent and uncommunicative, to withdraw oneself from society in a forbidding way. The allusion is to the tortoise, which, once it has "got into its shell," is quite unget-at-able.
Is “to retire into one's shell” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.