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

Designed by Gaudí, the Nativity façade is both naturalistic and overflowing with natural imagery: lilies and palm trees, a tortoise and sea turtle, insects and frogs, sheep and ducks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Rhossi the Kemp's ridley sea turtle was found close to death in December 2023, and has been nursed back to health by staff at the Anglesey Sea Zoo.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

Meatloaf now swims in the aquarium’s sea turtle rehabilitation area, which opened in January.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 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