turtle Definition

any of an order (Testudines synonym Chelonia) of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine reptiles that have a toothless horny beak and a shell of bony dermal plates usually covered with horny shields enclosing the trunk and into which the head, limbs, and tail usually may be withdrawn

turtleneck

turtledove

black bean

a submerged monocotyledonous marine plant (Thalassia testudinum of the family Hydrocharitaceae) of the coasts of Florida and the West Indies having long ribbonlike leaves

section of New York City in east central Manhattan on the East River

a large freshwater turtle (Macrochelys temminckii synonym Macroclemys temminckii) of southeastern U.S. rivers that may reach nearly 150 pounds (68 kilograms) in weight and 31 inches (79 centimeters) in length and differs from the common snapping turtle in having a shell with three distinct ridges, a more triangular-shaped head, and a pink fleshy wormlike appendage in the mouth used as a lure

any of several North American land turtles (genus Terrapene) capable of withdrawing into their shell and closing it by hinged joints in the lower half —called also box tortoise

any of several chiefly semiaquatic, Asian turtles (genera Cuora and Pyxidea of the family Geoemydidae) that have a carapace with a median keel and are capable of withdrawing into their shell and closing it by hinged joints in the plastron

a large usually herbivorous sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) of warm waters with a smooth greenish or olive-colored shell

a small- to medium-sized sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) of warm waters that has a narrow hawk-like beak, an upper shell of overlapping horny plates, and usually two claws on each forelimb