From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tortoise \Tor"toise\, noun [OE. tortuce, fr. OF. tortis crooked, fr. L. tortus twisted, crooked, contorted, p. p. of torquere, tortum, to wind; cf. F. tortue tortoise, LL. tortuca, tartuca, Pr. tortesa crookedness, tortis crooked. so called in allusion to its crooked feet. See {Torture}.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of reptiles of the order {Testudinata}.
Note: The term is applied especially to the land and fresh-water species, while the marine species are generally called turtles, but the terms tortoise and turtle are used synonymously by many writers. See {Testudinata}, {Terrapin}, and {Turtle}.
2. (Rom. Antiq.) Same as {Testudo}, 2.
{Box tortoise}, {Land tortoise}, etc. See under {Box}, {Land}, etc.
{Painted tortoise}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Painted turtle}, under {Painted}.
{Soft-shell tortoise}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Trionyx}.
{Spotted tortoise}. (Zo["o]l.) A small American fresh-water tortoise ({Chelopus guttatus} or {Nanemys guttatus}) having a blackish carapace on which are scattered round yellow spots.
{Tortoise beetle} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of small tortoise-shaped beetles. Many of them have a brilliant metallic luster. The larv[ae] feed upon the leaves of various plants, and protect themselves beneath a mass of dried excrement held over the back by means of the caudal spines. The golden tortoise beetle ({Cassida aurichalcea}) is found on the morning-glory vine and allied plants.
{Tortoise plant}. (Bot.) See {Elephant's foot}, under {Elephant}.
{Tortoise shell}, the substance of the shell or horny plates of several species of sea turtles, especially of the hawkbill turtle. It is used in inlaying and in the manufacture of various ornamental articles.
{Tortoise-shell butterfly} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of handsomely colored butterflies of the genus {Aglais}, as {Aglais Milberti}, and {Aglais urtic[ae]}, both of which, in the larva state, feed upon nettles.
{Tortoise-shell turtle} (Zo["o]l.), the hawkbill turtle. See {Hawkbill}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: usually herbivorous land turtles having clawed elephant-like limbs; worldwide in arid area except Australia and Antarctica
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
32 Moby Thesaurus words for "tortoise": alligator, crocodile, crocodilian, dawdle, dawdler, dinosaur, drone, foot-dragger, gator, goldbrick, goof-off, laggard, lie-abed, lingerer, lizard, loiterer, plodder, procrastinator, reptile, reptilian, saurian, sleepyhead, slow goer, slow-foot, slowbelly, slowpoke, slug, sluggard, snail, stick-in-the-mud, terrapin, turtle
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
TORTOISE, noun A creature thoughtfully created to supply occasion for the following lines by the illustrious Ambat Delaso:
My friend, you are not graceful -- not at all; Your gait's between a stagger and a sprawl.
Nor are you beautiful: your head's a snake's To look at, and I do not doubt it aches.
As to your feet, they'd make an angel weep. 'Tis true you take them in whene'er you sleep.
No, you're not pretty, but you have, I own, A certain firmness -- mostly you're [sic] backbone.
Firmness and strength (you have a giant's thews) Are virtues that the great know how to use --
I wish that they did not; yet, on the whole, You lack -- excuse my mentioning it -- Soul.
So, to be candid, unreserved and true, I'd rather you were I than I were you.
Perhaps, however, in a time to be, When Man's extinct, a better world may see
Your progeny in power and control, Due to the genesis and growth of Soul.
So I salute you as a reptile grand Predestined to regenerate the land.
Father of Possibilities, O deign To accept the homage of a dying reign!
In the far region of the unforeknown I dream a tortoise upon every throne.
I see an Emperor his head withdraw Into his carapace for fear of Law;
A King who carries something else than fat, Howe'er acceptably he carries that;
A President not strenuously bent On punishment of audible dissent --
Who never shot (it were a vain attack) An armed or unarmed tortoise in the back;
Subject and citizens that feel no need To make the March of Mind a wild stampede;
All progress slow, contemplative, sedate, And "Take your time" the word, in Church and State.
O Tortoise, 'tis a happy, happy dream, My glorious testudinous regime!
I wish in Eden you'd brought this about By slouching in and chasing Adam out.
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Tortoise (Heb. tsabh). Ranked among the unclean animals (Lev. 11:29). Land tortoises are common in Syria. The LXX. renders the word by "land crocodile." The word, however, more probably denotes a lizard, called by the modern Arabs _dhabb_.
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