turtle : Idioms & Phrases

Index

Alligator snapper, Alligator tortoise, Alligator turtle

  • (Zoöl.), a very large and voracious turtle (Macrochelys lacertina) in habiting the rivers of the southern United States. It sometimes reaches the weight of two hundred pounds. Unlike the common snapping turtle, to which the name is sometimes erroneously applied, it has a scaly head and many small scales beneath the tail. This name is sometimes given to other turtles, as to species of Trionyx.
Webster 1913

alligator snapping turtle

  • noun large species having three ridges on its back; found in southeastern United States
    alligator snapper; Macroclemys temmincki.
WordNet

Alligator turtle, Box turtle

  • etc. See under Alligator, Box, etc.
Webster 1913

bastard turtle

  • noun grey sea turtle of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America
    Atlantic ridley; Lepidochelys kempii; bastard ridley.
WordNet

Box turtle

  • noun chiefly terrestrial turtle of North America; shell can be closed tightly
    box tortoise.
WordNet
  • ∨
Webster 1913

common snapping turtle

  • noun large-headed turtle with powerful hooked jaws found in or near water; prone to bite
    Chelydra serpentina; snapper.
WordNet

gopher turtle

  • noun burrowing edible land tortoise of southeastern North America
    Gopherus polypemus; gopher tortoise; gopher.
WordNet

Green turtle

  • noun large tropical turtle with greenish flesh used for turtle soup
    Chelonia mydas.
WordNet
  • (Zoöl.), an edible marine turtle. See Turtle.
  • (Zoöl.), 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 (C. virgata) inhabits the Pacific Ocean. Both species are similar in habits and feed principally on seaweed and other marine plants, especially the turtle grass.
Webster 1913

green turtle soup

  • noun soup usually made of the flesh of green turtles
    green turtle soup.
WordNet

hawksbill turtle

  • noun pugnacious tropical sea turtle with a hawk-like beak; source of food and the best tortoiseshell
    hawksbill; hawksbill turtle; hawkbill; Eretmochelys imbricata.
WordNet

Land tortoise, Land turtle

  • (Zoöl.), any tortoise that habitually lives on dry land, as the box tortoise. See Tortoise.
Webster 1913

Leather turtle

  • . (Zoöl.) See Leatherback.
Webster 1913

leatherback turtle

  • noun wide-ranging marine turtle with flexible leathery carapace; largest living turtle
    Dermochelys coriacea; leatherback turtle; leatherback.
WordNet

leathery turtle

  • noun wide-ranging marine turtle with flexible leathery carapace; largest living turtle
    Dermochelys coriacea; leatherback turtle; leatherback.
WordNet

loggerhead turtle

  • noun very large carnivorous sea turtle; wide-ranging in warm open seas
    loggerhead; Caretta caretta.
WordNet

Lyre turtle

  • (Zoöl.), the leatherback.
Webster 1913

marine turtle

  • noun any of various large turtles with limbs modified into flippers; widely distributed in warm seas
    marine turtle.
WordNet

Mock turtle soup

  • noun soup made from a calf's head or other meat in imitation of green turtle soup
WordNet
  • a soup made of calf's head, veal, or other meat, and condiments, in imitation of green turtle soup.
Webster 1913

mud turtle

  • noun bottom-dwelling freshwater turtle inhabiting muddy rivers of North America and Central America
WordNet

Mud turtle, Mud tortoise

  • (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of fresh-water tortoises of the United States.
Webster 1913

Musk tortoise, Musk turtle

  • (Zoöl.), a small American fresh-water tortoise (Armochelys, ∨ Ozotheca, odorata), which has a distinct odor of musk; called also stinkpot.
Webster 1913

musk turtle

  • noun small freshwater turtle having a strong musky odor
    stinkpot.
WordNet

Painted turtle

  • noun freshwater turtles having bright yellow and red markings; common in the eastern United States
    Chrysemys picta; painted terrapin; painted tortoise.
WordNet
  • (Zoöl.), a common American freshwater tortoise (Chrysemys picta), having bright red and yellow markings beneath.
Webster 1913

pancake turtle

  • noun voracious aquatic turtle with a flat flexible shell covered by a leathery skin; can inflict painful bites
    pancake turtle.
WordNet

Pond tortoise, Pond turtle

  • (Zoöl.), any freshwater tortoise of the family Emydidæ. Numerous species are found in North America.
Webster 1913

red-bellied turtle

  • noun freshwater turtle of Chesapeake Bay tributaries having red markings on the lower shell
    Pseudemys rubriventris; red-bellied terrapin; redbelly.
WordNet

sea turtle

  • noun any of various large turtles with limbs modified into flippers; widely distributed in warm seas
    marine turtle.
WordNet
Sea" tur"tle
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of several very large species of chelonians having the feet converted into paddles, as the green turtle, hawkbill, loggerhead, and leatherback. They inhabit all warm seas. (b) The sea pigeon, or guillemot.
Webster 1913

Snapping turtle

  • noun large aggressive freshwater turtle with powerful jaws
WordNet
  • . (Zoöl.) (a) A large and voracious aquatic turtle (Chelydra serpentina) common in the fresh waters of the United States; so called from its habit of seizing its prey by a snap of its jaws . Called also mud turtle. (b) See Alligator snapper, under Alligator.
Webster 1913

Soft-shelled turtle

  • noun voracious aquatic turtle with a flat flexible shell covered by a leathery skin; can inflict painful bites
    pancake turtle.
WordNet
  • . (Zoöl.) Same as Soft tortoise, under Soft.
Webster 1913

Tortoise-shell turtle

  • (Zoöl.), the hawkbill turtle. See Hawkbill.
Webster 1913

tortoiseshell turtle

  • noun pugnacious tropical sea turtle with a hawk-like beak; source of food and the best tortoiseshell
    hawksbill; hawksbill turtle; hawkbill; Eretmochelys imbricata.
WordNet

Trunk turtle

  • (Zoöl.), the leatherback.
Webster 1913

turn turtle

  • verb overturn accidentally
    turtle; capsize.
    • Don't rock the boat or it will capsize!
WordNet

turtle bean

  • noun black-seeded bean of South America; usually dried
    black bean.
WordNet

Turtle cowrie

  • (Zoöl.), a large, handsome cowrie (Cypræa testudinaria); the turtle-shell; so called because of its fancied resemblance to a tortoise in color and form.
Webster 1913

Turtle grass

  • (Bot.), a marine plant (Thalassia testudinum) with grasslike leaves, common about the West Indies.
Webster 1913

Turtle shell

  • tortoise shell. See under Tortoise.
Webster 1913

turtle soup

  • noun soup usually made of the flesh of green turtles
    green turtle soup.
WordNet

turtle-footed

Tur"tle-foot`ed adjective
Definitions
  1. Slow-footed. R. "Turtle-footed Peace." Ford.
Webster 1913

turtle-shell

Tur"tle-shell` noun
Definitions
  1. The turtle cowrie.
Webster 1913

western box turtle

  • noun primarily a prairie turtle of western United States and northern Mexico
    Terrapene ornata.
WordNet