carapace - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: carapace

Browse Nearby Entries

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

car·a·pace

Audio Help [kar-uh-peys] Pronunciation Key

–noun

a bony or chitinous shield, test, or shell covering some or all of the dorsal part of an animal, as of a turtle.

[Origin: 1830–40; < F < Sp carapacho, of obscure orig.

]

—Related forms

car·a·paced, adjective

car·a·pa·cial

Audio Help [kar-uh-pey-shuh

l] Pronunciation Key, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
carapace

To learn more about carapace visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

car·a·pace Audio Help (kār'ə-pās') Pronunciation Key
n.

Zoology A hard bony or chitinous outer covering, such as the fused dorsal plates of a turtle or the portion of the exoskeleton covering the head and thorax of a crustacean.
A protective, shell-like covering likened to that of a turtle or crustacean: "He used to worry that Sarah would age the same way, develop the same brittle carapace" (Anne Tyler).

[French, from Spanish carapacho.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
carapace

1836, from Fr. carapace "tortoise shell," from Port. carapaça, of uncertain origin, perhaps somehow from L. capa (see cape (1)).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

carapace
noun
hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

carapace Audio Help (kār'ə-pās') Pronunciation Key
A hard outer covering or shell made of bone or chitin on the back of animals such as turtles, armadillos, lobsters, and crabs.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Carapace

Cal`i*pash"\, n. [F. carapace, Sp. carapacho. Cf Calarash, Carapace.] A part of a turtle which is next to the upper shell. It contains a fatty and gelatinous substance of a dull greenish tinge, much esteemed as a delicacy in preparations of turtle.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive - Cite This Source - Share This

carapace

carapace was Word of the Day on August 13, 2002.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Browse Nearby Entries: