sea turtle

American  

noun

• sea turtles
  plural

1. any of several large turtles of the families Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical seas, having the limbs modified into paddlelike flippers: all sea turtles are either threatened or endangered through most of their range because of ocean pollution.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sea turtles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sea turtle

First recorded in 1670–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sea turtle

Pancake, the super-rare sea turtle, returns to the NYC waters.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

After learning that sea turtle populations in Lebanon were under threat, she committed herself to protecting them and later returned permanently to the country.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

The film cuts to a hummingbird sipping nectar from a flower on a cactus, a sea turtle floating over a coral reef, pink flamingos on a green lake, a snowflake, a butterfly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

In total, more than 2,000 marine species have been recorded in the warm Gulf waters, including over 500 fish species and five types of sea turtles, among them the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle.

From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026

It seems impossible to imagine that there was a time when I looked upon a live sea turtle as a ten-course meal of great delicacy, a blessed respite from fish.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel