"shell company" meaning in English

See shell company in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: shell companies [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} shell company (plural shell companies)
  1. (law, business) A company that engages in no substantive business activities, but instead exists as a vehicle for legal or financial transactions, typically to shield another party from liability or other issues. Categories (topical): Business, Law Synonyms: shell corporation, letterbox company, mailbox company, front company Related terms: shell game, ghost company Translations (company without activity created for tax purposes): skuffeselskab [neuter] (Danish), brievenbusfirma [feminine] (Dutch), brievenbusmaatschappij [feminine] (Dutch), peiteyhtiö (Finnish), peiteyritys (Finnish), peitefirma (Finnish), Briefkastenfirma [feminine] (German), Briefkastengesellschaft [feminine] (German), Domizilgesellschaft [Switzerland, feminine] (German), postkasseselskap [neuter] (Norwegian Bokmål), spółka wydmuszka [feminine] (Polish), empresa fantasma [feminine] (Spanish), skalbolag [neuter] (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for shell company meaning in English (4.5kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "shell companies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "shell company (plural shell companies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
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          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Business",
          "orig": "en:Business",
          "parents": [
            "Economics",
            "Society",
            "Social sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Sciences",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Law",
          "orig": "en:Law",
          "parents": [
            "Justice",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003 November 15, Tony Levene, “Capital letters”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "It was a shell company and, the SEC alleges, never had researchers, research plans or any scientific resources.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Oliver Bullough, chapter 2, in Moneyland, Profile Books, page 19",
          "text": "This luxury-loving and profligate shell company is registered at a betting shop on the Caledonian Road, an unlovely thoroughfare in North London on which you'd be more likely to find amphetamines than a top-notch lawyer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A company that engages in no substantive business activities, but instead exists as a vehicle for legal or financial transactions, typically to shield another party from liability or other issues."
      ],
      "id": "en-shell_company-en-noun-weM4kd7N",
      "links": [
        [
          "law",
          "law#English"
        ],
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ],
        [
          "company",
          "company"
        ],
        [
          "vehicle",
          "vehicle"
        ],
        [
          "legal",
          "legal"
        ],
        [
          "financial",
          "financial"
        ],
        [
          "transactions",
          "transactions"
        ],
        [
          "shield",
          "shield"
        ],
        [
          "party",
          "party"
        ],
        [
          "liability",
          "liability"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(law, business) A company that engages in no substantive business activities, but instead exists as a vehicle for legal or financial transactions, typically to shield another party from liability or other issues."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "shell game"
        },
        {
          "word": "ghost company"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "shell corporation"
        },
        {
          "word": "letterbox company"
        },
        {
          "word": "mailbox company"
        },
        {
          "word": "front company"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "law"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "skuffeselskab"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "brievenbusfirma"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "brievenbusmaatschappij"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "word": "peiteyhtiö"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "word": "peiteyritys"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "word": "peitefirma"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Briefkastenfirma"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Briefkastengesellschaft"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "Switzerland",
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Domizilgesellschaft"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "postkasseselskap"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "spółka wydmuszka"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "empresa fantasma"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "skalbolag"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "shell company"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "shell companies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "shell company (plural shell companies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "shell game"
    },
    {
      "word": "ghost company"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Business",
        "en:Law"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003 November 15, Tony Levene, “Capital letters”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "It was a shell company and, the SEC alleges, never had researchers, research plans or any scientific resources.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Oliver Bullough, chapter 2, in Moneyland, Profile Books, page 19",
          "text": "This luxury-loving and profligate shell company is registered at a betting shop on the Caledonian Road, an unlovely thoroughfare in North London on which you'd be more likely to find amphetamines than a top-notch lawyer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A company that engages in no substantive business activities, but instead exists as a vehicle for legal or financial transactions, typically to shield another party from liability or other issues."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "law",
          "law#English"
        ],
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ],
        [
          "company",
          "company"
        ],
        [
          "vehicle",
          "vehicle"
        ],
        [
          "legal",
          "legal"
        ],
        [
          "financial",
          "financial"
        ],
        [
          "transactions",
          "transactions"
        ],
        [
          "shield",
          "shield"
        ],
        [
          "party",
          "party"
        ],
        [
          "liability",
          "liability"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(law, business) A company that engages in no substantive business activities, but instead exists as a vehicle for legal or financial transactions, typically to shield another party from liability or other issues."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "shell corporation"
        },
        {
          "word": "letterbox company"
        },
        {
          "word": "mailbox company"
        },
        {
          "word": "front company"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "law"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "skuffeselskab"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "brievenbusfirma"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "brievenbusmaatschappij"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "word": "peiteyhtiö"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "word": "peiteyritys"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "word": "peitefirma"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Briefkastenfirma"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Briefkastengesellschaft"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "Switzerland",
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Domizilgesellschaft"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "postkasseselskap"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "spółka wydmuszka"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "empresa fantasma"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "company without activity created for tax purposes",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "skalbolag"
    }
  ],
  "word": "shell company"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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