# turtle

Pronunciation: say "TUR-tuhl" US /ˈtɝtl̩/, UK /ˈtɜːtl̩/

## Noun

1. Any reptile of the order Testudines, with a bony or leathery shell enclosing its body; in British and Australian use, usually a sea-dwelling one, as distinct from land tortoises and freshwater terrapins.
   - Simple: A reptile with a hard shell covering its body. In British English it usually means one that lives in the sea.
   - _The turtle basked on a flat rock until a heron landed nearby._
   - _Researchers tag turtles to track their migrations across the ocean._
2. A candy consisting of pecans and caramel coated in chocolate, traditionally shaped to suggest the reptile's body and legs.
   - Simple: A small candy made of pecans, caramel, and chocolate.
   - _The chocolate shop sells homemade turtles by the pound during the holidays._
   - _She bit into the turtle and got caramel all over her fingers._
5. In teaching computer programming (especially with the Logo language), a small domed robot or an on-screen cursor that draws lines as it moves under the control of a program.
   - Simple: A small robot or screen pointer that draws lines as a computer program moves it, used to teach programming.
   - _In Logo, the turtle leaves a trail wherever the program sends it._
   - _Students rotate the turtle ninety degrees before drawing each side of the polygon._
6. An Ancient Roman attack formation in which the soldiers' overlapping shields protected them on all sides, including from above.
   - Simple: A way Roman soldiers moved in battle, holding their shields together over their heads and around their sides like a shell.
   - _The cohort advanced in a turtle, shields locked against the defenders' missiles._
   - _Stones hurled from the walls failed to break the turtle below._

## Verb

3. To turn over so that the back or top is underneath; to capsize or end up upside down, or (of an animal) to roll onto its back, as when swimming.
   - Simple: To turn over so the top or back is underneath. To end up upside down.
   - _The dinghy turtled completely, its mast pointing straight down._
   - _Kayaks can turtle in fast rapids, leaving paddlers to swim for shore._
7. To hunt turtles, especially by pursuing them in the water.
   - Simple: To go out catching turtles, often from a boat or in the water.
   - _Fishermen here turtled for generations before the practice was banned._
   - _The fishermen used to turtle in the shallow bay at dawn._

## Noun

4. A small dove with a gentle purring call, now usually called a turtle dove. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A small wild dove with a soft, purring call.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To move along at a slow, plodding pace.
- (verb) To build up a large defensive force and strike only occasionally, instead of pursuing an offensive strategy.
- (noun) A breakdancing move in which the dancer floats on the hands, shifting weight from one hand to the other to rotate or "walk" in a circle.
- (noun) In bubble sorting, a small element near the end of the list, which tends to take many passes to be swapped into its correct position.
- (noun) A low stand used to support a lamp or other fixture close to the floor.
- (noun) The curved plate that clamped the set type to the cylinder of an early rotary printing press.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–7** — This is a modification of Middle English 'tortou' or 'tortu', from Old French 'tortüe' (influenced by Middle English 'turtel', meaning turtledove), from Old Occitan 'tortuga' (compare Medieval Latin 'tortuca'): the same source that gave us 'tortoise'.
**Meaning 4** — Latin turtur ("turtledove"), which is imitative in origin, is the ultimate source. It reached Old English as turtle or turtla ("turtledove") and continued as Middle English turtle.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/turtle (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).