ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Terrapin

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈtɛɹəpɪn/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Terrapin is a noun meaning (countable) Any of several small turtles of the families Emydidae and Geoemydidae found throughout the world.

Meaning

(countable) Any of several small turtles of the families Emydidae and Geoemydidae found throughout the world.

More Meanings

  1. (countable, obsolete) Any turtle.
  2. (uncountable, obsolete) The flesh of such a turtle used as food.
  3. (countable, obsolete) Any of several small turtles native to North America that live in brackish or fresh water, especially the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin).

Example Sentences

The third ſervice was made up of a loin of freſh pork with apple-ſauce, a kid ſmothered with onions, and a terrapin baked in the ſhell; […]
The ancient whale-cry [i.e., "town-ho"] upon first sighting a whale from the masthead, still used by whalemen in hunting the famous Gallipagos terrapin.
The man who did not eat twice of terrapin would be held in small repute, as the Londoner is held who at a city banquet does not partake of both thick and thin turtle.
The land-turtle, or terrapin, is much better known at Nice, as being a native of this county; yet the beſt are brought from the iſland of Sardinia. The ſoup or bouillon of this animal is always preſcribed here as a great reſtorative to conſumptive patients.

Word Forms

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include diamondback, tarapin, terapin, tarrapin, terrapene, emydid.

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Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.