Brewer's: Shell

(A) is a hollow iron ball, with a fuze-hole in it to receive a fuze, which is a plug of wood containing gunpowder. It is constructed to burn slowly, and, on firing, the piece ignites, and continues to burn during its flight till it falls on the object at which it is directed, when it bursts, scattering its fragments in all directions.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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