Tortoise Noun - Definition, Pictures, Pronunciation And Usage Notes

Oxford logo Toggle navigation Redeem Upgrade Help Sign in

• Dictionaries
  • Dictionaries home
  • English
  • American English
  • Academic
  • Collocations
  • German-English
• Grammar
  • Grammar home
  • Practical English Usage
  • Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
• Word Lists
  • Word Lists home
  • My Word Lists
  • Topics
  • Recent additions
• Resources
  • Resources home
  • Text Checker

Sign in Dictionaries

• Dictionaries home
• English
• American English
• Academic
• Collocations
• German-English

Grammar

• Grammar home
• Practical English Usage
• Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)

Word Lists

• Word Lists home
• My Word Lists
• Topics
• Recent additions

Resources

• Resources home
• Text Checker

Redeem Upgrade Help TOP English English American English Academic English Collocations Practical English Usage German-English English-German English American English Enter search text

Definition of tortoise noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

tortoise noun  /ˈtɔːtəs/  /ˈtɔːrtəs/ jump to other results

1. enlarge imagea reptile with a hard round shell, that lives on land and moves very slowly. It can pull its head and legs into its shell. compare terrapin, turtleTopics Animalsb2Oxford Collocations DictionaryTortoise is used before these nouns:
   • shell
   See full entryWord Originlate Middle English tortu, tortuce: from Old French tortue and Spanish tortuga, both from medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain origin. The current spelling dates from the mid 16th cent.

   Questions about grammar and vocabulary?

   Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English.

See tortoise in the Oxford Advanced American DictionaryCheck pronunciation: tortoise

Other results

All matches

• The Tortoise and the Hare

Nearby words

• tortilla noun
• tortilla chip noun
• tortoise noun
• The Tortoise and the Hare
• tortoiseshell noun

circumstance noun From the Word list OPAL spoken words Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day