Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Any of various North American aquatic turtles of the family Emydiolae, especially the genus Malaclemys, which includes the diamondback terrapin.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. Any of several North American turtles, of the family Emydidae, that live in fresh or brackish water.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. Any one of numerous species of tortoises living in fresh and brackish waters. Many of them are valued for food.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One of several different freshwater or tide-water tortoises of the family Emydidæ; specifically, in the United States, the diamond-back, Malaclemmys or Malacoclemmys palustris, of the Atlantic coast from New York to Texas, famous among epicures. See diamond-backed turtle (under diamond-backed), and Malaclemmys.
- n. Some other tortoise or turtle: as, the elephant terrapin of the Galapagos.
- n. A dish made of the diamond-back.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. any of various edible North American web-footed turtles living in fresh or brackish water
Etymologies
Examples
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In 1880, a Washington Post reporter called terrapin vital to any dinner party "laying claim to being a pretentious affair."
Matthew Jacob: Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio and Turtle Soup?
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Oh dear dog, the idea of terrapin poo on KY's elegant 'do ....
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Soon Jon-Tom and the terrapin were the only ones still playing.
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"Some persons," wrote the Dutch traveller, Van der Donck, in 1656, "prepare delicious dishes from the water terrapin, which is luscious food."
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The terrapin is a small turtle, found on the shores of Maryland and
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A small tortoise, called a terrapin, [198] is taken in some rivers, creeks, and swampy grounds, and is used as an article of food.
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In addition to the clean-cars standards, the Legislature approved a bill outlawing the trapping of the diamondback terrapin, which is the state reptile and official mascot of the University of Maryland.
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I believe the little tortoise is call a terrapin or 'pik' in Hokkien.
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Later spelled "terrapin," it meant the diamond-back, the esoteric little creature that spread the fame of the
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* A local name for a kind of terrapin common in that section.
madmouth commented on the word terrapin
Kuniyoshi's take
September 21, 2009
sionnach commented on the word terrapin
1 terrapin = 10^^12 pins.
February 23, 2008