Tortoise
['tɔːtəs;-tɒɪz] or ['tɔːrtəs]
Definition
(noun.) usually herbivorous land turtles having clawed elephant-like limbs; worldwide in arid area except Australia and Antarctica.
Editor: Maggie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Any one of numerous species of reptiles of the order Testudinata.
(n.) Same as Testudo, 2.
(n.) having a color like that of a tortoise's shell, black with white and orange spots; -- used mostly to describe cats of that color.
(n.) a tortoise-shell cat.
Typist: Tito
Definition
n. together with turtles a well-defined order of reptiles distinguished especially by the dorsal (carapace) and ventral (plastron) shields which protect the body.—n. Tor′toise-shell the horny epidermic plate of a species of turtle.—adj. of the colour of the foregoing mottled in yellow and black.
Typist: Morton
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. A creature thoughtfully created to supply occasion for the following lines by the illustrious Ambat Delaso:
Edited by Flo
Examples
- The glyptodon was a monstrous South American armadillo, and a human skeleton has been found by Roth buried beneath its huge tortoise-like shell. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- It was the tortoise-shell lozenge-box, and Dorothea felt the color mounting to her cheeks. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- On the ledge at the side, were an empty laudanum-bottle and a tortoise-shell handled penknife--soiled, but not with ink. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- He's got the freak of being a popular man now, after dangling about like a stray tortoise. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- As the cavity is gradually filled up the tortoise presses the earth down with the outer edge of its foot. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- When does a Tortoise Move Quickly? Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- I think I should prefer tortoise-shell. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Another division was the crocodile branch, and another developed towards the tortoises and turtles. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Only the crocodiles and the turtles and tortoises carry on in any quantity into Cainozoic times. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Tortoises lay their eggs in underground nests, where they remain for almost a year, and, strange to say, they have a very curious way of drilling holes for these nests with their tails. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
Editor: Louise