TURTLE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Turtle

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/tˈərtəl/ Listen

noun

Turtle n. (Zool.) The turtledove.

Turtle n.

1.

(Zool.) Any one of the numerous species of Testudinata, especially a sea turtle, or chelonian. Note: In the United States the land and fresh-water tortoises are also called turtles.

2.

(Printing) The curved plate in which the form is held in a type-revolving cylinder press.

Alligator turtle, Box turtle, etc. See under Alligator, Box, etc.

green turtle (Zool.), a marine turtle of the genus Chelonia, having usually a smooth greenish or olive-colored shell. It is highly valued for the delicacy of its flesh, which is used especially for turtle soup. Two distinct species or varieties are known; one of which (Chelonia Midas) inhabits the warm part of the Atlantic Ocean, and sometimes weighs eight hundred pounds or more; the other (Chelonia virgata) inhabits the Pacific Ocean. Both species are similar in habits and feed principally on seaweed and other marine plants, especially the turtle grass.

Turtle cowrie (Zool.), a large, handsome cowrie (Cypraea testudinaria); the turtle-shell; so called because of its fancied resemblance to a tortoise in color and form.

Turtle grass (Bot.), a marine plant (Thalassia testudinum) with grasslike leaves, common about the West Indies.

Turtle shell, tortoise shell. See under Tortoise.

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Etymology of 'Turtle'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Turtle" Quotes from Famous Books

... immense place at Manchester being very great, I was hoarse all day yesterday, though I was not much distressed on Saturday night. I am becoming melodious again (at three in the afternoon) rapidly, and count on being quite restored by a basin of turtle at dinner. ...

— The Letters of Charles Dickens - Vol. 2 (of 3), 1857-1870 • Charles Dickens

... I ain't built on the same lines as you; and in a case of this kind, the one that c'n go faster just has to accommodate himself to the pace of the slow one. You're the hare, and I'm like the poor old tortoise; but please remember that the turtle came in winner after all in the race. Not always to the swift, you know, does the race go. I may beat you out in the long run, with the endurance test. If I've got anything ...

— The Boy Scouts in the Maine Woods - The New Test for the Silver Fox Patrol • Herbert Carter

... there was one terrific burst, the tops of the waves being cut off as with a knife and borne aboard us in sheets of water, while the Silver Queen heeled over to starboard so greatly that it seemed as if she would "turn the turtle" and go down sideways with all hands; but it was the last blast of the storm, for each succeeding hour lessened its force, although the sea continued high. After that it grew gradually calmer and calmer, until we were able to make sail again and bear away eastwards, rounding the Cape two days ...

— Afloat at Last - A Sailor Boy's Log of his Life at Sea • John Conroy Hutcheson

... to the coo vocabulary, or advertise any continuous turtle-dove act. Gettin' married ain't jellied our brains, I hope. Besides, we're busy. I've got a new gilt-edged job to fill, you know; and Vee, she has one of her ...

— The House of Torchy • Sewell Ford

... my share is equal with my sister's, and more, because my son comes after me. Whatever she may do, I will never yield a pin's point of my rights, and leave my son a beggar. Philippa, would you make Pet a beggar? And his turtle in bed, before the sun is on the window, and his sturgeon jelly when he gets out of bed! There never was any one, by a good Providence, less sent into the ...

— Mary Anerley • R. D. Blackmore

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