Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The mottled, horny, translucent, brownish covering of the carapace of certain tortoises or turtles, especially the hawksbill, formerly widely used to make combs, jewelry, and other articles.
- noun A synthetic imitation of natural tortoiseshell.
- noun A domestic cat having a coat with irregular patches of different colors, usually black and reddish-orange.
- noun Any of several butterflies, chiefly of the genus Nymphalis, having wings with orange, black, and brown markings.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
horny ,translucent ,mottled covering of thecarapace of thehawksbill turtle , used as aveneer etc. - noun The hawksbill turtle.
- noun A
domestic cat whosefur hasblack ,brown andyellow markings . - noun Any of several
butterflies , mostly of thegenus Mymphalis that have similar markings. - adjective made of the covering of carapace of hawksbill turtle
- adjective having
markings resembling covering of carapace of hawksbill turtle
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Round-frame Gandhi-style sunglasses in tortoiseshell completed the look and I wore the same outfit for a peaceful hike up Ranthambore Fort later on, which offers breathtaking views of the Park from the top.
Marissa Bronfman: Shopping and Safari Chic in Rajasthan Marissa Bronfman 2010
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Round-frame Gandhi-style sunglasses in tortoiseshell completed the look and I wore the same outfit for a peaceful hike up Ranthambore Fort later on, which offers breathtaking views of the Park from the top.
Marissa Bronfman: Shopping and Safari Chic in Rajasthan Marissa Bronfman 2010
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Round-frame Gandhi-style sunglasses in tortoiseshell completed the look and I wore the same outfit for a peaceful hike up Ranthambore Fort later on, which offers breathtaking views of the Park from the top.
Marissa Bronfman: Shopping and Safari Chic in Rajasthan Marissa Bronfman 2010
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My tortoiseshell is plopped on my lap now purring and nosing my left (as I type) as if to say, “ear rub! now!”
Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » Thursday Night Open Thread 2010
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Round-frame Gandhi-style sunglasses in tortoiseshell completed the look and I wore the same outfit for a peaceful hike up Ranthambore Fort later on, which offers breathtaking views of the Park from the top.
Marissa Bronfman: Shopping and Safari Chic in Rajasthan Marissa Bronfman 2010
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Round-frame Gandhi-style sunglasses in tortoiseshell completed the look and I wore the same outfit for a peaceful hike up Ranthambore Fort later on, which offers breathtaking views of the Park from the top.
Marissa Bronfman: Shopping and Safari Chic in Rajasthan Marissa Bronfman 2010
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After a struggle I was able to divine that the tortoiseshell was a female and the black and white a male.
Every living thing Herriot, James 1992
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Being a _mulatita_ she was dark or dusky skinned, with a reddish tinge in the duskiness, purple-red lips, and liquid black eyes with orange-brown reflections in them -- the eyes called tortoiseshell in America.
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It is varied in colour, — white, fawn, and black, and a mixture of the three colours, forming a tortoiseshell, which is the more generally admired hue.
The Book of Household Management Isabella Mary 1861
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It is varied in colour, — white, fawn, and black, and a mixture of the three colours, forming a tortoiseshell, which is the more generally admired hue.
The Book of Household Management Isabella Mary 1861
treeseed commented on the word tortoiseshell
Tortoiseshell cats are also found that are gray and cream. This is known as a dilute tortoiseshell or a blue-cream tortie.
January 22, 2008
sionnach commented on the word tortoiseshell
And all this time I thought that blue-cream tortie was just law clerk jargon for the massive class action suit against the dairy industry, following last year's unfortunate Texas bluetooth outbreak.
January 23, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tortoiseshell
That's just a coinkydink, sionnach.
January 23, 2008
fbharjo commented on the word tortoiseshell
there are no visuals of tortoiseshell
October 22, 2011