turn turtle

Idioms  

1. Capsize, turn upside down, as in When they collided, the car turned turtle. This expression alludes to the helplessness of a turtle turned on its back, where its shell can no longer protect it. [First half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

turn turtle

He had either to crash squarely into the other automobile or he had to run the risk of having his own machine turn turtle.

From Bert Wilson at the Wheel by Duffield, J. W.

Our machinery might break down, we might drift for weeks without being sighted, we might collide with an iceberg in the fog, we might even turn turtle.

From By Right of Conquest A Novel by Hornblow, Arthur

Being almost hove short, the ship could not rise quickly enough to the seas, and was besides rolling so much that she threatened to turn turtle every minute.

From A Modern Buccaneer by Boldrewood, Rolf

Let me get there," insisted Ned, "you may take a kink somewhere and make us turn turtle.

From Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School by Penrose, Margaret

Her tail rose, and she started, with dreadful deliberateness, to turn turtle.

From The Trail of the Hawk A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life by Lewis, Sinclair