Background for turtles

turtles

/ˈtɜːtəlz/

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noun

Any land or marine reptile of the order Testudines, characterised by a protective shell enclosing its body. See also tortoise.

Examples :

"The children were excited to see the turtles swimming in the pond at the park. "

animal biology nature organism environment

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noun

(specifically) A marine reptile of that order.

Examples :

"While visiting the beach, we saw several turtles swimming in the ocean. "

animal biology nature organism ocean environment

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noun

An Ancient Roman attack method, where the shields held by the soldiers hide them, not only left, right, front and back, but also from above.

Examples :

"The Roman soldiers used the tortoise formation, or turtles, to protect themselves from enemy arrows during the siege. "

military history war

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noun

A type of robot having a domed case (and so resembling the reptile), used in education, especially for making line drawings by means of a computer program.

Examples :

"The children in the classroom used the turtles to practice drawing shapes on the computer. "

technology computing education machine device

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noun

An on-screen cursor that serves the same function as a turtle for drawing.

Examples :

"In our computer class, we used turtles to draw colorful shapes on the screen. "

computing technology electronics

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noun

The curved plate in which the form is held in a type-revolving cylinder press.

Examples :

"The print shop still uses turtles to hold the newspaper layout firmly in place on their old printing press. "

technology machine writing

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noun

A small element towards the end of a list of items to be bubble sorted, and thus tending to take a long time to be swapped into its correct position. Compare rabbit.

Examples :

"In the unsorted list of students' names, the turtles, like "Zachary" near the beginning, will take many swaps to finally reach their correct alphabetical position at the end. "

computing technical logic

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noun

A breakdancing move consisting of a float during which the dancer's weight shifts from one hand to the other, producing rotation or a circular "walk".

Examples :

"During the breakdancing workshop, the instructor showed us how to do "turtles" by rotating on our hands. "

dance sport entertainment

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noun

A low stand for a lamp etc.

Examples :

"We placed the heavy spotlights on the turtles to illuminate the actors during the play. "

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verb

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

Examples :

"The old car almost turtled when it hit the patch of ice, but thankfully the driver regained control. "

animal action nature

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verb

To turn and swim upside down.

Examples :

"The little turtle tried to swim, but it kept turtling over, ending up upside down in the water. "

animal biology nature action

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verb

To hunt turtles, especially in the water.

Examples :

"The villagers used to turtle in the river, but now the turtle population is protected. "

animal action food nature sport

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verb

To build up a large defense force and strike only punctually, rather than going for an offensive strategy.

Examples :

"The struggling software company decided to turtle, focusing solely on fixing critical bugs and maintaining existing customers rather than launching new, risky products. "

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noun

Examples :

"The cooing of the turtles outside my window is a peaceful way to wake up. "

animal bird nature