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tortoise-shell. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
tortoise-shell, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
tortoise-shell in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
tortoise-shell you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Noun
tortoise-shell (usually uncountable, plural tortoise-shells)
- Alternative form of tortoiseshell
Adjective
tortoise-shell (not comparable)
- Alternative form of tortoiseshell
1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter IV, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 67:The same nervous staccato laugh broke from her thin lips, and her fingers began to play with a long tortoise-shell paper-knife.