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 of carapace 1830–40; < French < Spanish carapacho, of obscure origin
Related forms car·a·paced , adjective car·a·pa·cial [kar-uh -pey -shuh l] /ˌkær əˈpeɪ ʃəl/ adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for carapace fur ,
coating ,
crust ,
surface ,
jacket ,
husk ,
membrane ,
rind ,
bark ,
sheath ,
case ,
integument ,
scale ,
skeleton ,
chassis ,
hull ,
frame ,
shard ,
shuck ,
framework Examples from the Web for carapace Contemporary Examples of carapace I walked back to my desk, keeping the satisfaction locked tight within a carapace of steely unconcern, and took in the scene.
It encases their loserdom in a carapace of purity and righteousness.
Ian McEwan: Well, I think one way… I think you have to develop a carapace of boringness.
Greater awareness of that would soften their carapace of greed.
Historical Examples of carapace The arthropods in general were provided with a carapace ; most of them were crustaceans.
At least three segments of the trunk are left uncovered by the carapace .
The last four or five segments of the trunk are free from the carapace .
The Monosphrida comprise all those Sphroidea in which the carapace is represented only by one single lattice-shell.
In Chelonia the ribs are generally combined with the carapace .
British Dictionary definitions for carapace noun the thick hard shield, made of chitin or bone, that covers part of the body of crabs, lobsters, tortoises, etc
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Word Origin for carapace C19: from French, from Spanish carapacho, of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for carapace n. 1836, from French carapace "tortoise shell" (18c.), from Spanish carapacho or Portuguese carapaça , of uncertain origin, perhaps somehow from Latin capa (see cape (n.1)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
A hard outer covering or shell made of bone or chitin on the back of animals such as turtles, armadillos, lobsters, and crabs.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
