turn turtle
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Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Possibly from the fact that turning a turtle and placing it on its back renders it helpless.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɜːn ˈtɜːtəl/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɝn ˈtɝtəl/
- Hyphenation: turn tur‧tle
Verb[edit]
turn turtle (third-person singular simple present turns turtle, present participle turning turtle, simple past and past participle turned turtle)
- (intransitive) Especially of a boat or ship, or some other vehicle: to turn upside down.
- Synonym: turtle (verb)
- (intransitive, surfing) To roll upside down with one's surfboard (usually a longboard) to allow a wave, especially a wave that has already broken, to pass over.
- (intransitive, figuratively) To fail; to go belly up.
- 2016, Bill Christine, Bill Hartack: The Bittersweet Life of a Hall of Fame Jockey (page 110)
- On a day-to-day basis, his business turned turtle; some years he wouldn't even win a hundred races.
- 2016, Bill Christine, Bill Hartack: The Bittersweet Life of a Hall of Fame Jockey (page 110)
Related terms[edit]
- turtling (noun)
Translations[edit]
to turn upside down
to roll upside down with one's surfboard
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ W[illiam] H[enry] Smyth; revised [...] by E[dward] Belcher (1867), “TURN A TURTLE, To”, in The Sailor’s Word-book: An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, […], London: Blackie & Son, […], OCLC 220591803, pages 702–703.
