贝壳
bèiké · HSK 7
shell
🐚 贝 (shell radical) + 壳 (husk/casing) = the physical seashell itself
贝 alone means cowrie and shows up in money-related characters because shells were ancient currency. Add 壳 (outer casing) and you narrow it to the concrete object: a seashell you can hold.
壳 — 士 + 冖 + 几 (top 殼 simplified)
壳 is the simplified form of 殼, originally a pictograph of a hard outer shell or husk being struck. The full form 殼 contains 殳 (a hand holding a weapon/tool), suggesting cracking open a shell. Today 壳 means 'shell, husk, casing,' as in 贝壳 (seashell).