Tortoise

Tortoise - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

(Heb. tsabh). Ranked among the unclean animals (Lev. 11:29). Land tortoises are common in Syria. The LXX. renders the word by "land crocodile." The word, however, more probably denotes a lizard, called by the modern Arabs dhabb.

Tortoise - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

TORTOISE, n. tor'tis.] from L. tortus, twisted.]

1. An animal of the genus Testudo, covered with a shell or crust.

2. In the military art, a defense used by the ancients, formed by the troops arranging themselves in close order and placing their bucklers over their heads, making a cover resembling a tortoise-shell.