eggshellful

English

Etymology

From Middle English egschelfull, egge schellefull, egge schelle ful, equivalent to eggshell +‎ -ful.

Noun

eggshellful (plural eggshellfuls or eggshellsful)

1. The amount contained in an eggshell
   • 1901, Queen of the Home: A Careful Compilation of Tried and Approved Recipes:

     Beat the white of one egg until stiff, add 1/2 of an eggshellful of cream and beat together well, add enough pulverized sugar to harden it so as to form in squares lay on pasteboard to harden.

   • 1909 November 26, “Candy Recipe”, in The Evening Star, number 17,959, Washington, D.C., page 5:

     To make it, beat the whites of two eggs to a froth, add an equal quantity of cold water (measuring two half-eggshellsful), then gradually stir into this confectioners’ sugar until of a paste stiff enough to be molded with the fingers and retain its shape.

   • 1927, The Swiss Monthly‎^[1], page 299:

     4 well beaten egg yolks, 5 half eggshellsful of sugar, 6 or 7 eggshellsful of good white wine.

   • 2014, R. Shelton Mackenzie, Bits of Blarney, page 117:

     After a pause, one of them ventured to hint that the first allowance of liquor had been drank out, so that "there did not remain an eggshellful to drink the health of the Captain."