carapace

American  

[kar-uh-peys] / ˈkær əˌpeɪs /

noun

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

---

carapace British  

/ ˈkærəˌpeɪs /

noun

1. the thick hard shield, made of chitin or bone, that covers part of the body of crabs, lobsters, tortoises, etc

---

carapace Scientific  

/ kăr′ə-pās′ /

1. A hard outer covering or shell made of bone or chitin on the back of animals such as turtles, armadillos, lobsters, and crabs.

---

Other Word Forms

• carapaced
  adjective
• carapacial
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of carapace

1830–40; < French < Spanish carapacho, of obscure origin

Explanation

Carapace is a scientific term for protective shell. Turtles and crabs have them, but humans don't — so we make do with bike helmets and elbow pads. Otherwise known as outerwear for arthropods and turtles, carapace is a word you probably won't come across very often, unless you're a zoologist. But that doesn't mean you can't use it to describe someone who's a tough nut to crack. If a person has a gruff attitude meant to protect them emotionally, they've certainly enclosed themselves in a carapace of sorts.

Example Sentences

Dock workers in Manhattan disdained to haul Spock's new 35-ft. ketch Carapace aboard the freighter Atlantic Clipper, headed for the Virgin Islands, where Spock has a winter home.

From Time Magazine Archive

He and his second wife, Mary Morgan, 41, spend the winters aboard their boat Carapace in the British Virgin Islands and most of the rest of the year in Maine and Arkansas.

From Time Magazine Archive

Carapace, kar′a-pās, n. the shell of the crab, tortoise, &c.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

We left him sailing on his outspread mantle, into the light of the morning, over Lake Carapace.

From American Hero-Myths A Study in the Native Religions of the Western Continent by Brinton, Daniel Garrison

Carapace more than twice as wide as long; the sides in front extended into a long slightly bent spine.

From Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. Including Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, Etc. to Which Is Added the Account of Mr. E.B. Kennedy's Expedition for the Exploration of the Cape York Peninsula. By John Macgillivray, F.R.G.S. Naturalist to the Expedition. — Volume 2 by MacGillivray, John

Related Words

• bark
• coating
• crust
• fur
• husk
• jacket
• membrane
• rind
• sheath
• surface