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tortue

turtle

noun tor-TU Rare

Also means

tortoise

Usage Note

Tortue covers both the sea turtle (tortue de mer) and the land tortoise (tortue terrestre) — French does not distinguish the two with separate basic words the way English does. The expression avancer comme une tortue means to move at a snail's pace. The shell is carapace.

Examples

"La tortue avance lentement sur le sable."

Natural Translation

The turtle moves slowly on the sand.

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