noun pl. turtles or turtle
- any of a large and widely distributed order (Testudines) of terrestrial or aquatic reptiles having a toothless beak and a soft body encased in a tough shell into which, in most species, the head, tail, and four legs may be withdrawn: although aquatic, esp. marine, species are usually called turtle and land species are usually called tortoise, the terms are properly interchangeable for all species
- the flesh of some turtles, used as food
- turtleneck
- Archaic turtledove
Origin:
altered, prob. infl. by turtle(dove) < Fr tortue, tortoise < VL *tartaruca: see tortoise
intransitive verb turtled, turtling
to hunt for turtles