'Land tortoise' definitions:

Definition of 'Land tortoise'

From: GCIDE
  • Tortoise \Tor"toise\, n. [OE. tortuce, fr. OF. tortis crooked, fr. L. tortus twisted, crooked, contorted, p. p. of torquere, tortum, to wind; cf. F. tortue tortoise, LL. tortuca, tartuca, Pr. tortesa crookedness, tortis crooked. so called in allusion to its crooked feet. See Torture.]
  • 1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of reptiles of the order Testudinata. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The term is applied especially to the land and fresh-water species, while the marine species are generally called turtles, but the terms tortoise and turtle are used synonymously by many writers. See Testudinata, Terrapin, and Turtle. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Rom. Antiq.) Same as Testudo, 2. [1913 Webster]
  • Box tortoise, Land tortoise, etc. See under Box, Land, etc.
  • Painted tortoise. (Zool.) See Painted turtle, under Painted.
  • Soft-shell tortoise. (Zool.) See Trionyx.
  • Spotted tortoise. (Zool.) A small American fresh-water tortoise (Chelopus guttatus or Nanemys guttatus) having a blackish carapace on which are scattered round yellow spots.
  • Tortoise beetle (Zool.), any one of numerous species of small tortoise-shaped beetles. Many of them have a brilliant metallic luster. The larvae feed upon the leaves of various plants, and protect themselves beneath a mass of dried excrement held over the back by means of the caudal spines. The golden tortoise beetle ({Cassida aurichalcea}) is found on the morning-glory vine and allied plants.
  • Tortoise plant. (Bot.) See Elephant's foot, under Elephant.
  • Tortoise shell, the substance of the shell or horny plates of several species of sea turtles, especially of the hawkbill turtle. It is used in inlaying and in the manufacture of various ornamental articles.
  • Tortoise-shell butterfly (Zool.), any one of several species of handsomely colored butterflies of the genus Aglais, as Aglais Milberti, and Aglais urticae, both of which, in the larva state, feed upon nettles.
  • Tortoise-shell turtle (Zool.), the hawkbill turtle. See Hawkbill. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Land tortoise'

From: GCIDE
  • [1913 Webster]
  • Note: In the expressions "to be, or dwell, upon land," "to go, or fare, on land," as used by Chaucer, land denotes the country as distinguished from the town. [1913 Webster]
  • A poor parson dwelling upon land [i.e., in the country]. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Ground, in respect to its nature or quality; soil; as, wet land; good or bad land. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. The inhabitants of a nation or people. [1913 Webster]
  • These answers, in the silent night received, The king himself divulged, the land believed. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. The mainland, in distinction from islands. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. The ground or floor. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Herself upon the land she did prostrate. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. (Agric.) The ground left unplowed between furrows; any one of several portions into which a field is divided for convenience in plowing. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. (Law) Any ground, soil, or earth whatsoever, as meadows, pastures, woods, etc., and everything annexed to it, whether by nature, as trees, water, etc., or by the hand of man, as buildings, fences, etc.; real estate. --Kent. Bouvier. Burrill. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. (Naut.) The lap of the strakes in a clinker-built boat; the lap of plates in an iron vessel; -- called also landing. --Knight. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. In any surface prepared with indentations, perforations, or grooves, that part of the surface which is not so treated, as the level part of a millstone between the furrows, or the surface of the bore of a rifled gun between the grooves. [1913 Webster]
  • Land agent, a person employed to sell or let land, to collect rents, and to attend to other money matters connected with land.
  • Land boat, a vehicle on wheels propelled by sails.
  • Land blink, a peculiar atmospheric brightness seen from sea over distant snow-covered land in arctic regions. See {Ice blink}.
  • Land breeze. See under Breeze.
  • Land chain. See Gunter's chain.
  • Land crab (Zool.), any one of various species of crabs which live much on the land, and resort to the water chiefly for the purpose of breeding. They are abundant in the West Indies and South America. Some of them grow to a large size.
  • Land fish a fish on land; a person quite out of place. --Shak.
  • Land force, a military force serving on land, as distinguished from a naval force.
  • Land, ho! (Naut.), a sailor's cry in announcing sight of land.
  • Land ice, a field of ice adhering to the coast, in distinction from a floe.
  • Land leech (Zool.), any one of several species of blood-sucking leeches, which, in moist, tropical regions, live on land, and are often troublesome to man and beast.
  • Land measure, the system of measurement used in determining the area of land; also, a table of areas used in such measurement.
  • Land of bondage or House of bondage, in Bible history, Egypt; by extension, a place or condition of special oppression.
  • Land o' cakes, Scotland.
  • Land of Nod, sleep.
  • Land of promise, in Bible history, Canaan: by extension, a better country or condition of which one has expectation.
  • Land of steady habits, a nickname sometimes given to the State of Connecticut.
  • Land office, a government office in which the entries upon, and sales of, public land are registered, and other business respecting the public lands is transacted. [U.S.]
  • Land pike. (Zool.) (a) The gray pike, or sauger. (b) The Menobranchus.
  • Land service, military service as distinguished from naval service.
  • Land rail. (Zool) (a) The crake or corncrake of Europe. See Crake. (b) An Australian rail (Hypot[ae]nidia Phillipensis); -- called also pectoral rail.
  • Land scrip, a certificate that the purchase money for a certain portion of the public land has been paid to the officer entitled to receive it. [U.S.]
  • Land shark, a swindler of sailors on shore. [Sailors' Cant]
  • Land side (a) That side of anything in or on the sea, as of an island or ship, which is turned toward the land. (b) The side of a plow which is opposite to the moldboard and which presses against the unplowed land.
  • Land snail (Zool.), any snail which lives on land, as distinguished from the aquatic snails are Pulmonifera, and belong to the Geophila; but the operculated land snails of warm countries are Di[oe]cia, and belong to the T[ae]nioglossa. See Geophila, and Helix.
  • Land spout, a descent of cloud and water in a conical form during the occurrence of a tornado and heavy rainfall on land.
  • Land steward, a person who acts for another in the management of land, collection of rents, etc.
  • Land tortoise, Land turtle (Zool.), any tortoise that habitually lives on dry land, as the box tortoise. See Tortoise.
  • Land warrant, a certificate from the Land Office, authorizing a person to assume ownership of a public land. [U.S.]
  • Land wind. Same as Land breeze (above).
  • To make land (Naut.), to sight land.
  • To set the land, to see by the compass how the land bears from the ship.
  • To shut in the land, to hide the land, as when fog, or an intervening island, obstructs the view. [1913 Webster]