turtle
Related to turtle: tortoise, Turtle Beach
turn turtle
To turn upside down; to flip over. This phrase is often used to describe overturned boats or ships. You need to wear a life jacket because there's always a chance that the boat could turn turtle.
See also: turn, turtle
turtle head
1. To pop one's head up behind or out from within something, in a manner resembling a turtle's head emerging from its shell. Everyone started turtle heading in their cubicles to see where the music was coming from. People around the campsite began to turtle head from their tents to see what was happening.
2. vulgar slang To need to defecate so badly that one's feces begin to come out through the anus involuntarily. I need to find a bathroom now—I'm starting to turtle head! I was turtle heading by the time we finally got to a rest stop.
See also: head, turtle
turtleneck
slang The foreskin of the penis. An allusion to a type of sweater with a high, tubular, close-fitting collar. At first I assumed we'd get our son circumcised, but the doctors said there was no reason to get rid of his little turtleneck.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
turn turtle
Fig. to turn upside down. (See also turn belly up.) The sailboat turned turtle, but the sailors only got wet. The car ran off the road and turned turtle in the ditch.
See also: turn, turtle
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
turn turtle
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]
See also: turn, turtle
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
turn turtle
If a boat turns turtle, it turns upside down in the water. The boat nearly turned turtle twice, but I managed to keep her upright. Note: Turtles are helpless when they are turned onto their backs.
See also: turn, turtle
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
turn turtle
turn upside down.If a turtle is flipped over on to its back, it becomes helpless and unable to move. The phrase has long been used figuratively of inanimate objects, especially boats, that have turned upside down or overturned.
1990 Stephen King The Stand His tractor turned turtle on him and killed him.
See also: turn, turtle
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
turn ˈturtle
(of a boat) turn upside down: We turned turtle right in front of everybody at the yacht club. It was so embarrassing.This expression refers to the fact that if a turtle is turned on its back, it is helpless and unable to move.
See also: turn, turtle
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
turn turtle
in. to turn over, as with a ship. The old dog finally turned turtle, and that was the end.
See also: turn, turtle
turtle heading
n. popping up and down in an office cubicle, looking at what’s going on in the rest of the office. (see also prairie dog.) Everybody was turtle heading, trying to see what was happening in Willy’s cubicle.
See also: heading, turtle
turtle-neck
n. the penile foreskin. (A play on the type of collar.) He’s talking to the doctor about getting rid of his little turtle-neck.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
turn turtle, to
To capsize or overturn. This term comes from the helplessness of a turtle turned onto its shell-covered back, exposing its soft legs and body to danger. The metaphor, at first used for a capsized ship and later for any overturned endeavor, dates from the first half of the nineteenth century. Describing an early motor accident, the Daily News had it, “An engine and two trucks had turned turtle on the embankment” (July 9, 1896; cited by the OED).
See also: turn
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- turn turtle
- turn turtle, to
- flip for
- flip for (someone or something)
- turn over
- flip one's lid, to
- flip on
- give (one) the bird
- give someone the bird