tortoise

noun

tor·​toise ˈtȯr-təs 

1

: any of a family (Testudinidae) of terrestrial turtles

broadly : turtle

2

: someone or something regarded as slow or laggard

Examples of tortoise in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What about scrub gopher tortoises, coyotes, and bobcats? —Joe Rassel, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 May 2025

In Zeno’s paradox, for instance, a tortoise gets a head start in a race with Achilles, who will never catch up to the tortoise if the race is defined in terms of the distance between them, which is infinitely divisible into ever smaller slices. —Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025

By the time the program ended in 2020, over 2,300 tortoises roamed Española. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025

Listen to this article Three more specialty license plates will soon be available on Florida’s roads including ones supporting Israel, K9s and gopher tortoises. —Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 1 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English tortu, tortuse, from Anglo-French tortue — more at turtle

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing tortoise

• desert tortoise
• giant tortoise
• tortoise beetle

Rhymes for tortoise

• fortis
• mortis
• abortus

Kids Definition

tortoise

noun

tor·​toise ˈtȯrt-əs 

: turtle entry 2

especially : a land-dwelling turtle