testudo
(among the ancient Romans) a movable shelter with a strong and usually fireproof arched roof, used for protection of soldiers in siege operations.
a shelter formed by overlapping oblong shields, held by soldiers above their heads.
Origin of testudo
1Words Nearby testudo
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use testudo in a sentence
The elephant tortoise (testudo Schweigeri) is often found on some islands, and in the marshy mouths of several rivers.
It was a gigantic tortoise—a specimen of testudo elephantopus—a huge cumbersome brute.
The Blue Germ | Martin SwayneHibbard's testudo riggsi (Hibbard, 1944) is the best known of these smaller turtles.
Pliocene and Pleistocene Records of Fossil Turtles from Western Kansas and Oklahoma | Edwin C. GalbreathBaguian is famed throughout those seas as a rookery for the giant tortoise—testudo elephantopus.
Where the Strange Trails Go Down | E. Alexander PowellBut I had no spare cash to lay out on stock, either in pigments or specimens of the genus testudo.
Mated from the Morgue | John Augustus O'Shea
British Dictionary definitions for testudo
/ (tɛˈstjuːdəʊ) /
a form of shelter used by the ancient Roman Army for protection against attack from above, consisting either of a mobile arched structure or of overlapping shields held by the soldiers over their heads
Origin of testudo
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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