noun
pugnacious tropical sea turtle with a hawk-like beak; source of food and the best tortoiseshell
• Syn: ↑hawksbill, ↑hawkbill, ↑tortoiseshell turtle, ↑Eretmochelys imbricata
• Hypernyms: ↑sea turtle, ↑marine turtle
• Member Holonyms: ↑Eretmochelys, ↑genus Eretmochelys
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\\ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷-\ noun or hawksbill : a carnivorous sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) of tropical and subtropical seas, having a shell that rarely exceeds two feet in length and is covered with large overlapping horny plates of a brown color marbled with yellow that furnish the best tortoiseshell of commerce
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/hawks"bil'/
a sea turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, the shell of which is the source of tortoise shell: an endangered species. Also called hawksbill, hawkbill, tortoiseshell turtle.
[1650-60; HAWK1 + 'S1 + BILL2]
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hawksbill turtle,
a sea turtle having a beak shaped like that of a hawk. Tortoise shell is made from the overlapping horny plates covering its shell.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.