turn turtle

Idioms  

1. Capsize, turn upside down, as in When they collided, the car turned turtle. This expression alludes to the helplessness of a turtle turned on its back, where its shell can no longer protect it. [First half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

turn turtle

I don't know, but perhaps the minute I get some wind in the sail the whole outfit will turn turtle.

From The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward or, Winning Their Grades as Petty Officers by Patchin, Frank Gee

Our machinery might break down, we might drift for weeks without being sighted, we might collide with an iceberg in the fog, we might even turn turtle.

From By Right of Conquest A Novel by Hornblow, Arthur

Almost every man aboard was thrown to the deck, and the vessel heeled over to starboard until it seemed she must turn turtle.

From The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries by Rolt-Wheeler, Francis

But the sorcerer answered: “Did not my ship turn turtle at sea, and yet you try to deceive me?”

From The Chinese Fairy Book by Wilhelm, Richard

It would never have been believed two years ago that ships like the Cressy, Aboukir, and Hogue would turn turtle a few minutes after a single blow from a torpedo.

From The Story of the Great War, Volume I (of 8) Introductions; Special Articles; Causes of War; Diplomatic and State Papers by Churchill, Allen L. (Allen Leon)