tortoise
Plural: tortoises
Noun
- A slow-moving reptile with a hard, dome-shaped shell.
- usually herbivorous land turtles having clawed elephant-like limbs; worldwide in arid area except Australia and Antarctica
- Any of various land-dwelling reptiles, of the family Testudinidae (chiefly Canada, US) or the order Testudines (chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, India), whose body is enclosed in a shell (carapace plus plastron). The animal can withdraw its head and four legs partially into the shell, providing some protection from predators.
- Synonym of cat (sense 11, a wheeled shelter)
Examples
- His game was slow like a TORTOISE, but he steadily accumulated points.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English tortuse, tortuce, tortuge, from Medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain origin. May be from Late Latin tartarūcha, from tartarūchus, from Ancient Greek ταρταροῦχος (tartaroûkhos, “holder of Tartaros, Tartarus, the land of the dead in ancient stories”), because it used to be thought that tortoises and turtles came from the underworld and they were commonly paired with such infernal beasts; see Τάρταρος (Tártaros). Or, from Latin tortus (“twisted”). The French-looking Modern English spelling tortoise may be influenced by porpoise. Displaced native Old English byrdling.
Scrabble Score: 8
tortoise: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordtortoise: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
tortoise: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 8
tortoise: valid Words With Friends Word