tortoiseshell
The horny, translucent, mottled covering of the carapace of the hawksbill turtle, used…The horny, translucent, mottled covering of the carapace of the hawksbill turtle, used as a veneer etc.
» I have a tortoiseshell cat. She is so affectionate!
memries · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
4 senses(uncountable, usually)The horny, translucent, mottled covering of the carapace of the hawksbill turtle, used as a veneer etc.
the mottled horny substance of the shell of some turtles
(uncountable, usually)The hawksbill turtle.
Schildpatt
(uncountable, usually)A domestic cat (or a rabbit, guinea-pig, etc.) whose fur has black, brown and yellow markings.
Schildpatt
a cat having black and cream-colored and yellowish markings
(uncountable, usually)Any of several butterflies, mostly of the genera Nymphalis and Aglais that have similar markings.
Fuchs
Examples
1 sentencesI have a tortoiseshell cat. She is so affectionate!
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 2
Origin
From tortoise + shell.From tortoise + shell.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: tortoiseshells| Singular | tortoiseshell |
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uncountable
Synonyms
5 synonyms- a cat having black and cream-colored and yellowish markings:tortoiseshell-catcalico cat
- brilliantly colored; larvae feed on nettles:tortoiseshell butterfly
Word family
4 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.