shield-toad

English

Alternative forms

shieldtoad, shield toad, shelt-toad

Etymology

From shield +‎ toad. Compare shelled-toad, shell-toad, 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”).

Noun

shield-toad (plural shield-toads)

(archaic, rare, nonstandard) A turtle or tortoise.
- 2010, Hugh Peter McGrath, Michael Comenetz, Valery's Graveyard:
  But we already know that a shield-toad is a Frenchman, while the sun is Apollo's shield.
- For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:shield-toad.

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