TORTOISESHELL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tortoiseshell mean? 

• TORTOISESHELL (noun)
  The noun TORTOISESHELL has 3 senses:

1. the mottled horny substance of the shell of some turtles

2. brilliantly colored; larvae feed on nettles

3. a cat having black and cream-colored and yellowish markings

  Familiarity information: TORTOISESHELL used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TORTOISESHELL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The mottled horny substance of the shell of some turtles

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("tortoiseshell" is a kind of...):

horn (the material (mostly keratin) that covers the horns of ungulates and forms hooves and claws and nails)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Brilliantly colored; larvae feed on nettles

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

tortoiseshell; tortoiseshell butterfly

Hypernyms ("tortoiseshell" is a kind of...):

brush-footed butterfly; four-footed butterfly; nymphalid; nymphalid butterfly (medium to large butterflies found worldwide typically having brightly colored wings and much-reduced nonfunctional forelegs carried folded on the breast)

Holonyms ("tortoiseshell" is a member of...):

genus Nymphalis; Nymphalis (type genus of the Nymphalidae: mourning cloak butterflies)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A cat having black and cream-colored and yellowish markings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

calico cat; tortoiseshell; tortoiseshell-cat

Hypernyms ("tortoiseshell" is a kind of...):

domestic cat; Felis catus; Felis domesticus; house cat (any domesticated member of the genus Felis)

 Context examples 

Petersham would have remained a mere peer all his life had it not come out that he had a snuff-box for every day in the year, and that he had caught cold through a mistake of his valet, who sent him out on a bitter winter day with a thin Sèvres china box instead of a thick tortoiseshell.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)