Wiktionary
n. a domestic cat whose fur has black, brown and yellow markings
Wikipedia
Tortoiseshell is a cat coat coloring named for its similarity to tortoiseshell material. Tortoiseshell cats are almost exclusively female. Male tortoiseshells are rare and are usually sterile.
Also called torties for short, tortoiseshell cats combine two colors other than white, either closely mixed or in larger patches. The colors are often described as red and black, but the "red" patches can instead be orange, yellow, or cream, and the "black" can instead be chocolate, grey, tabby, or blue. Tortoiseshell cats with the tabby pattern as one of their colors are sometimes referred to as a torbie.
"Tortoiseshell" is typically reserved for particolored cats with relatively small or no white markings. Those that are largely white with tortoiseshell patches are described as tricolor, tortoiseshell-and-white (in the United Kingdom), or calico (in Canada and the United States).
Tortoiseshell markings appear in many different breeds, as well as in non-purebred domestic cats. This pattern is especially preferred in the Japanese Bobtail breed, and exists in the Cornish Rex group.
Usage examples of "tortoiseshell cat".
I was reborn as a hawk moth, a cockroach, a cow, and a tortoiseshell cat.
A book lay open on a pile of chopped-up meat on the table at his elbow and a tortoiseshell cat lay curled up in his lap.
A large tortoiseshell cat picked its way daintily across a desk piled with books.
A cat came in, a large tortoiseshell cat with one eye gold, the other blue.
It regained consciousness just moments before the neighbor's tortoiseshell cat pounced.
A large tortoiseshell cat slumbered next to a pot of scarlet geraniums.
Annabelle's old tortoiseshell cat, Santana, sat on the back of one of the sagging overstuffed chairs and glared at Hob.
A tortoiseshell cat, with its paws tucked in, sleeping with its nose towards the fire.
It was cosy and very warm with a table covered with a red plush table - cloth, a loud - ticking clock and an apparently comatose tortoiseshell cat on the hearth.