What is "turtle"

Turtle \Tur"tle\, n. [AS. turtle, L. turtur; probably of imitative origin. Cf. Turtle the sea tortoise.] (Zo["o]l.) The turtledove.

Turtle \Tur"tle\, n. [Probably the same word as the word preceding, and substituted (probably by sailors) for the Spanish or Portuguese name; cf. Sp. tortuga tortoise, turtle, Pg. tartaruga, also F. tortue, and E. tortoise.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of the numerous species of Testudinata, especially a sea turtle, or chelonian.

   Note: In the United States the land and fresh-water tortoises are also called turtles.

2. (Printing) The curved plate in which the form is held in a type-revolving cylinder press.

   Alligator turtle, Box turtle, etc. See under Alligator, Box, etc.

   green turtle (Zo["o]l.), a marine turtle of the genus Chelonia, having usually a smooth greenish or olive-colored shell. It is highly valued for the delicacy of its flesh, which is used especially for turtle soup. Two distinct species or varieties are known; one of which ( Chelonia Midas) inhabits the warm part of the Atlantic Ocean, and sometimes weighs eight hundred pounds or more; the other ( Chelonia virgata) inhabits the Pacific Ocean. Both species are similar in habits and feed principally on seaweed and other marine plants, especially the turtle grass.

   Turtle cowrie (Zo["o]l.), a large, handsome cowrie ( Cypr[ae]a testudinaria); the turtle-shell; so called because of its fancied resemblance to a tortoise in color and form.

   Turtle grass (Bot.), a marine plant ( Thalassia testudinum) with grasslike leaves, common about the West Indies.

   Turtle shell, tortoise shell. See under Tortoise.

"tortoise," c.1600, originally "marine tortoise," from French tortue, tortre (13c.) "turtle, tortoise" (often associated with diabolical beasts), of unknown origin. The English word perhaps is a sailors' mauling of the French one, influenced by the similar sounding turtle (n.2). Later extended to land tortoises; sea-turtle is attested from 1610s.

"turtledove," Old English turtle, dissimilation of Latin turtur "turtledove," a reduplicated form imitative of the bird's coo. Graceful, harmonious and affectionate to its mate, hence a term of endearment in Middle English. Turtle-dove is attested from c.1300.

Etymology 1 n. 1 Any land or marine reptile of the order (l mul Testudines), characterised by a protective shell enclosing its body. 2 (context Australia British English) A sea turtle. 3 (context military English) An Ancient Roman attack method, where the shields held by the soldiers hide them, not only left, right, front and back, but also from above. 4 (context computing English) A type of robot having a domed case (and so resembling the reptile), used in education, especially for making line drawings by means of a computer program. 5 (context computing English) An on-screen cursor that serves the same function as a turtle for drawing. 6 (context printing historical English) The curved plate in which the form is held in a type-revolving cylinder press. 7 (cx comptheory English) A small element towards the end of a list of items to be bubble sorted, and thus tending to take a long time to be swapped into its correct position. Compare (term rabbit English). vb. 1 To flip over onto the back or top; to turn upside down. 2 To turn and swim upside down. 3 To hunt turtles, especially in the water. 4 (context video games English) To build up a large defense force and strike only punctually, rather than going for an offensive strategy. Etymology 2

n. (context now rare archaic English) A turtle dove.

n. any of various aquatic and land reptiles having a bony shell and flipper-like limbs for swimming

1. v. overturn accidentally; "Don't rock the boat or it will capsize!" [syn: capsize, turn turtle]

2. hunt for turtles, especially as an occupation

A turtle is a reptile, most of whose body is shielded by a special bony or cartilaginous shell.

Turtle(s) may also refer to:

Turtle is the name of two DC Comics supervillains who were primary enemies of Flash.

Turtle (Terse RDF Triple Language) is a format for expressing data in the Resource Description Framework (RDF) data model with a syntax similar to SPARQL. RDF, in turn, represents information using " triples", each of which consists of a subject, a predicate, and an object. Each of those items is expressed as a Web URI.

Turtle provides a way to group three URIs to make a triple, and provides ways to abbreviate such information, for example by factoring out common portions of URIs. For example:

<http://example.org/person/Mark_Twain>
<http://example.org/relation/author>
<http://example.org/books/Huckleberry_Finn> .

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines (or Chelonii) characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs and acting as a shield. "Turtle" may refer to the order as a whole (American English) or to fresh-water and sea-dwelling testudines (British English).

The order Testudines includes both extant (living) and extinct species. The earliest known members of this group date from , making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than snakes or crocodilians. Of the 327 known species alive today, some are highly endangered.

Turtles are ectotherms—their internal temperature varies according to the ambient environment, commonly called cold-blooded. However, because of their high metabolic rate, leatherback sea turtles have a body temperature that is noticeably higher than that of the surrounding water.

Turtles are classified as amniotes, along with other reptiles, birds, and mammals. Like other amniotes, turtles breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water.

Turtle (also called American Turtle) was the world's first submersible with a documented record of use in combat. She was built in Old Saybrook, Connecticut in 1775 by American David Bushnell as a means of attaching explosive charges to ships in a harbor. Bushnell designed her for use against British Royal Navy vessels occupying North American harbors during the American Revolutionary War. Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull recommended the invention to George Washington; although the commander-in-chief had doubts, he provided funds and support for the development and testing of the machine.

Several attempts were made using Turtle to affix explosives to the undersides of British warships in New York Harbor in 1776. All failed, and her transport ship was sunk later that year by the British with the submarine aboard. Bushnell claimed eventually to have recovered the machine, but its final fate is unknown. Modern replicas of Turtle have been constructed; the Connecticut River Museum, the U.S. Navy's Submarine Force Library and Museum, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum and the Oceanographic Museum (Monaco) have them on display.

Salvatore "Turtle" Assante is a fictional character on the comedy-drama television series Entourage. He is played by Jerry Ferrara.

Turtles are a class of educational robots designed originally in the late 1940s (largely under the auspices of researcher William Grey Walter) and used in computer science and mechanical engineering training. These devices are traditionally built low to the ground with a roughly hemispheric (sometimes transparent) shell and a power train capable of a very small turning radius. The robots are often equipped with sensor devices which aid in avoiding obstacles and, if the robot is sufficiently sophisticated, allow it some perception of its environment. Turtle robots are commercially available and are common projects for robotics hobbyists. Turtle robots are closely associated with the work of Seymour Papert and the common use of the Logo programming language in computer education of the 1980s. Turtles specifically designed for use with Logo systems often come with pen mechanisms allowing the programmer to create a design on a large sheet of paper. The original Logo turtle, built by Paul Wexelblat at BBN, was named "Irving" and was demonstrated at the former Muzzey Junior High in Lexington, Massachusetts. "Irving" contained bump sensors and could give audio feedback with a bell. The development of the robotic Logo turtle led to the use of the term to describe the cursor in video screen implementations of the language and its turtle graphics package.