shield-toad

noun

A turtle or tortoise.

“For quotations using this term, see Citations:shield-toad.”

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Meanings

nounshield-toad (plural shield-toads)

plural shield-toads · alternative shieldtoad · alternative shield toad · alternative shelt-toad · alternative sheltoad · alternative shelled toad

  1. nonstandardrareA turtle or tortoise.

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:shield-toad.

    1 more example

    But we already know that a shield-toad is a Frenchman, while the sun is Apollo's shield.

    2010, Hugh Peter McGrath, Michael Comenetz, Valery's Graveyard

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
turtle

Origin

From shield + toad. Compare shellpad, shell-paddock. Compare also West Frisian skyldpod (“tortoise”, literally “shield-toad”), Dutch schildpad (“tortoise”, literally “shield-toad”), German Schildkröte (“tortoise”, literally “shield-toad”), Swedish sköldpadda (“tortoise”), Icelandic sjaldbaka (“turtle”, literally “shield-back”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

shield-toad. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shield-toad

MLA

“shield-toad.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shield-toad. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shield-toad,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shield-toad.

Source: shield-toad on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.