cooter

noun

coo·​ter ˈkü-tər How to pronounce cooter (audio)
 also  ˈku̇-tə
chiefly Southern US
: any of several freshwater turtles (genus Pseudemys synonym Chrysemys, especially P. concinna) especially of the southern and eastern U.S.

Examples of cooter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Others included a Mojave desert tortoise collected within range of fallout from the former Nevada Test Site; a river cooter from the Savannah River Site, which manufactured fuel for nuclear weapons; and an eastern box turtle from Oak Ridge, which once produced parts for nuclear weapons. Celia Ford, WIRED, 30 Aug. 2023 Plus find a Baikal teal, and meet Eve — a 50-year-old common cooter turtle. Lauren Daley, BostonGlobe.com, 24 May 2023 At the end of October, an SCCF employee spotted a single red-bellied cooter, a turtle with a grumpy disposition, attempting to cross the road. Scottie Andrew, CNN, 8 Nov. 2022 The shop also was selling Mississippi map turtles and river cooter turtles without a non-game dealers license. John Goodspeed, San Antonio Express-News, 29 Dec. 2021 There are native red belly and peninsula cooter turtles, exotic red-eared sliders and enormous softshell turtles. Kevin Spear, OrlandoSentinel.com, 10 May 2018 Most of the dead animals are Florida softshell turtles; however, a few river cooters, olive or brown turtles with yellow stripes on their heads and necks, have also been found dead. Annie Martin, OrlandoSentinel.com, 30 May 2018 The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife has released 53 northern red-bellied cooters, a turtle species, into the wild at the Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area in Hanson. Zipporah Osei and Julia Preszler, BostonGlobe.com, 15 June 2018 Cooter often puts the Lions in straightforward, static formations. Andy Benoit, SI.com, 9 Aug. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cooter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

of African origin; akin to Bambara & Malinke kuta turtle

First Known Use

1832, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cooter was in 1832

Dictionary Entries Near cooter

Cite this Entry

“Cooter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cooter. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!