Word.ws English Dictionary

turtling

turtling noun: the hunting of turtles (the reptiles). Also the present participle and gerund of turtle.

Noun (1)

turtling (uncountable)

  1. The hunting of turtles (the reptiles).
  2. Turning turtle.
  3. (figuratively) Any slow progression or build-up.
  4. A defensive strategy of avoiding conflict, by maintaining strong defense and little to no offense, while remaining in a fixed position.

Noun (2)

turtling (plural turtlings)

  1. A baby turtle.
    • Drowsy with dawn, barely asail, Buzzes the blue-bottle over the shale, Scared from the pool by the leaping trout; And the brood of turtlings clamber out On the log by their oozy house.1912, William Vaughn Moody, The poems and plays of William Vaughn Moody
    • The turtle-lings, kept in safety until they are three months old, are then released into the wild.1997, Sportdiving, volumes 59-64, page 94
    Synonyms:
    turtlet

Also used as

turtling is also the present participle and gerund of turtle.

Synonyms of turtling

Forms of turtling

pluralturtlings

Origin of turtling

From turtle + -ing.

From turtle + -ling.

Phrases with turtling

Questions about turtling

What does turtling mean?
Turtling means the hunting of turtles (the reptiles).
What part of speech is turtling?
Turtling is a noun.
What is the plural of turtling?
The plural of turtling is turtlings.

Words near turtling in the dictionary

  1. turtlet
  2. turtlets
  3. turtlette
  4. turtlettes
  5. turtleweed
  6. turtling
  7. turtling down
  8. turtling up
  9. turtlings
  10. turtly
  11. Turtmann

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: turtling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “turtling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/turtling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.