carapace

Noun

A hard, protective outer covering of certain animals, like turtles or crabs.
hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles
A hard protective covering of bone or chitin, especially one which covers the dorsal portion of an animal.
That which protects.

Examples

His opponent built a defensive carapace of short words, making it hard to score big.

Origin / Etymology

Borrowed from French carapace (“tortoise shell”), from Spanish carapacho, of unknown origin, but likely from an extinct Ibero-Mediterranean substrate language.
Compare Catalan carabassa, Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabos, “beetle”), Latin scarabaeus (the source of scarab); also Spanish galápago (“kind of turtle”). Doublet of calipash.

Synonyms

cuticle, shell, shield

Scrabble Score: 14

carapace: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
carapace: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
carapace: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 17

carapace: valid Words With Friends Word