The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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(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.
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(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.
Wiktionary
n. The green sea turtle.
WordNet
n. large tropical turtle with greenish flesh used for turtle soup [syn: Chelonia mydas]
Usage examples of "green turtle".
Another afternoon, in July, I helped tag and release a young green turtle, a seldom-seen species that once teetered toward extinction.
It was a turtle of the species Midas, the edible green turtle, so called from the color both of its shell and fat.
When you all tried to attack Pishky, the mad little green turtle Lortonoi, awhile back there, I had the glimmerings of an idea deep down.
It wasn't terribly enticing to Shandy, who'd grown fond of green turtle, manioc root and salmagundi salad.
He cleared his mind of stray thoughts and began to adjust the flow of order around the small green turtle, trying to soothe the creature as he did so.
Its arms were normal enough, except that the fingers of both hands were fused together, like the flippers of a green turtle.
In a green turtle-neck sweater and medallion, Richard Faber looked like a champagne bottle.
Like a great green turtle slumbered On the sea which it encumbered.
Bond watched the big green turtle-backed island grow on the horizon and the water below him turn from the dark blue of the Cuba Deep to the azure and milk of the inshore shoals.