chicken turtle

American  

noun

1. an edible, freshwater turtle, Deirochelys reticularia, of the southeastern U.S., characterized by a long neck and by the network of fine, yellow lines marking the dark carapace.

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Example Sentences

One returned from the East Indies with but a moderate fortune of fifty or sixty thousand pounds, a diminutive nabob: a term borrowed from the chicken turtle.

From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Grose, Francis

We had not been long at anchor when the canoe was launched, and a monkey—looking naked old man paddled off, and brought us a most beautiful chicken turtle, some yams, and a few oranges.

From Tom Cringle's Log by Scott, Michael