turtle

name

1. A river in Saskatchewan, Canada.
2. An extinct town in Dent County, Missouri, United States.
3. A town in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States.
4. A surname, thought to be derived from the turtle dove.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English turtle, tortle, turtel, turtul, from Old English turtle, turtla (“turtledove”), ultimately from Latin turtur (“turtledove”), of imitative origin.

1. A turtle dove.

   “The same he tooke, and with a riband new, / In which his Ladies colours were, did bind / About the turtles neck […].”

   “As the turtle, every day has been a black day with her since her husband died, and what should we unruly members make here?”

verb

Etymology: Modification of Middle English tortou, tortu, from Old French tortüe (under the influence of Middle English turtel, turtur (“turtledove”), see Etymology 2 below), from Medieval Latin tortuca (compare Spanish tortuga), the same source of tortoise (see there for more). Displaced native Old English byrdling (See birdling).

1. To flip over onto the back or top; to turn upside down.

   “Were speeding when car turtled […] Auto crashed into curb and turtled.”

2. To move along slowly.

   “We turtled along in Manitoba, back into the heart of the prairies.”

3. To turn and swim upside down.

   “I turtled my board beneath it, flipped upright, and started paddling again.”

4. To hunt turtles, especially in the water.

   “Of these, 80 turtled (65%), 26 hunted and turtled (20%), and 18 hunted (15%).”

5. To build up a large defense force and strike only occasionally, rather than going for an offensive strategy.
6. To struggle to hold back an involuntary bowel movement.