terrapin
Americannoun
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any of several edible North American turtles of the family Emydidae, inhabiting fresh or brackish waters, especially the diamondback terrapin: some are threatened or endangered.
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any of various similar turtles.
noun
Etymology
Origin of terrapin
1605–15; earlier torope (< Virginia Algonquian < Eastern Algonquian *to·rəpe·w variety of turtle > Munsee Delaware tó·lpe·w ) + -in, of uncertain origin
Vocabulary lists containing terrapin
English Words Derived from Indigenous Languages of the Americas
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It turned out to be a diamondback terrapin.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025
Tulare Lake expanded each spring as rain and melting snow filled the valley, growing so large that fisherfolk could sail across its surface to catch terrapin for San Francisco restaurants.
From Salon • Apr. 18, 2023
He hopped out of his car and lifted the small terrapin by its shell to grassy safety.
From Washington Post • May 26, 2022
BARNSTABLE, Mass. — A rare two-headed diamondback terrapin turtle is alive and kicking - with all six of its legs - at the Birdsey Cape Wildlife Center in Massachusetts after hatching two weeks ago.
From Washington Times • Oct. 12, 2021
We could get a pretty little price for a terrapin of that size.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
