noun

turtle

TURTL

noun

A reptile with a hard protective shell that lives on land, in fresh water, or in the sea.

"A sea turtle swam gracefully past the reef."

"The children watched the turtle pull its head into its shell."

verb

To flip over onto one's back, especially of a boat capsizing.

"The dinghy turtled in the rough waves."

In gaming, to play very defensively, building up defences rather than attacking.

"He just turtled behind his walls the whole match instead of attacking."

How to Use Turtle

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA shelled reptile that lives on land or in water; also used for flipping upside down or playing very defensively.

Common mistake

In British English "turtle" usually means a sea-dwelling species, while "tortoise" is the land-dwelling kind — Americans use "turtle" more broadly for both.

Easily confused with

tortoise →

Common pairings

sea turtle turtle shell turtle over

Word Forms

turtled past tense, turtles plural, turtles plural, Turtles plural, turtles singular

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

A sea _____ swam gracefully past the reef.

Etymology

From Old French tortüe, likely reshaped under the influence of Middle English words for the turtledove, ultimately going back to the same source as "tortoise".

Synonyms

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birdling chelid chelonian shield-toad shellpad terrapin testudine tortoise turpin

Related Words

tortoise turpin

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