chiefly Southern US
: any of several freshwater turtles (genus Pseudemys, especially P. concinna) especially of the southern and eastern U.S.
Examples of cooter in a Sentence
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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
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
Cooter often puts the Lions in straightforward, static formations.
—Andy Benoit, SI.com, 9 Aug. 2017
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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
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
Cooter often puts the Lions in straightforward, static formations.
—Andy Benoit, SI.com, 9 Aug. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Cooter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cooter. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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