car·a·pace (k r  -p s )n. 1. Zoology A hard bony or chitinous outer covering, such as the fused dorsal plates of a turtle or the portion of the exoskeleton covering the head and thorax of a crustacean. 2. A protective, shell-like covering likened to that of a turtle or crustacean: "He used to worry that Sarah would age the same way, develop the same brittle carapace" (Anne Tyler). [French, from Spanish carapacho.] |
carapace [ˈkærəˌpeɪs]
n
(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Zoology) the thick hard shield, made of chitin or bone, that covers part of the body of crabs, lobsters, tortoises, etc.
[from French, from Spanish carapacho, of unknown origin]
| carapace (kr-ps) A hard outer covering or shell made of bone or chitin on the back of animals such as turtles, armadillos, lobsters, and crabs. |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  carapace - hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtlesturtle - any of various aquatic and land reptiles having a bony shell and flipper-like limbs for swimming arthropod - invertebrate having jointed limbs and a segmented body with an exoskeleton made of chitin cuticula - the outer body wall of an insect scute - large bony or horny plate as on an armadillo or turtle or the underside of a snake mollusc, mollusk, shellfish - invertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell shell - the material that forms the hard outer covering of many animals |
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