green turtle

noun

: a large usually herbivorous sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) of warm waters with a smooth greenish or olive-colored shell

Examples of green turtle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Endangered loggerhead, hawksbill, and green turtles still make their home in the national park. Latria Graham, Travel + Leisure, 19 Jan. 2024 So far this year, staff at the aquarium’s sea turtle hospital have treated 214 total sea turtles, a number that includes 189 Kemp’s ridleys, 19 green turtles and six loggerheads. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Dec. 2023 Steeped in local lore and alternatively known as the Carib Ghost, this wreck site is home to stingrays, green turtles, and lobsters. Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 4 Sep. 2023 Human activity such as poaching, collisions with boats, habitat destruction and accidental capture in fishing gear have led to steep declines in green turtle populations over the last century. Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 12 Nov. 2023 In the 1980s, those numbers were even smaller, with just five or 10 green turtle nests in one year, Cohen said. Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2023 Visitors to the Clearwater aquarium watched the light green turtle with a healing shell swim happily with its peers. Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2023 In the past decade, alarming mass die-offs have hit sea turtle populations in the Great Barrier Reef, specifically the endangered green turtle species — and no one could figure out why. Lacy Schley, Discover Magazine, 11 June 2019 For the final experiment, the researchers dug up more green turtle eggs from a beach in Malaysia. Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 24 May 2016

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'green turtle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of green turtle was in 1657

Dictionary Entries Near green turtle

Cite this Entry

“Green turtle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/green%20turtle. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

green turtle

noun
: a large usually plant-eating sea turtle with a smooth greenish shell

More from Merriam-Webster on green turtle

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