Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A pleurodirous tortoise of the genus Chelys, C. fimbriata or matamata. Its brown carapace is covered with pyramidal eminences, and its body is curiously fimbriated. It inhabits the fresh waters of Brazil. See cut under
Chelydidæ . - n. [capitalized] [NL.] A genus of such turtles: a synonym of Chelys.
Wiktionary
- n. A species of side-necked turtle, Chelus fimbriatus, whose shell resembles a dead leaf.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) The bearded tortoise (Chelys fimbriata) of South American rivers.
Examples
“The strange creature we had found was a matamata (_Chelys matamata_).”
“A framework of saplings tied together with strips of _matamata_ bark was raised for a roof, and across this were laid gigantic leaves of the _murumuru_, twenty-five to thirty feet long.”
“Grotesque, and unlike what we fancy a reality, -- such as those creatures which the wild imagination of the painters of bygone days delighted in producing, -- is the curious matamata (Chelys matamata), found along the banks of the Amazon, as well as in Guiana.”
The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America
“In the curious matamata, the jaws of which open very wide, these parts, instead of being armed by a strong beak, are protected by a sheath of horn.”
The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America
“True will find many more formidable antagonists than the matamata in these regions, and he must be taught to restrain his ardour, or he may some day, I fear, ` catch a Tartar. ”
“We carried the matamata to the camp, and on landing it drew it up with sipos, with its neck stretched out.”
“They found 95 boa constrictors, two rhinoceros vipers and a matamata turtle inside the bag.”
“The department said its enforcement officers found 95 boa constrictors, two rhinoceros vipers and a matamata turtle inside the luggage.”
“(Galibi) reptiles: arrau (Maipure), jacare (Tupí), matamata (Tupí) insects: chigoe (Cariban), sauba (Tupi), pinacate (Nahuatl) beverages: cassiri (Carib), guarana (Tupí), sotol (Nahuatl)”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘matamata’.
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tortoises and turtles
about 294 species
turtle in Zulu is ufudugreen turtle, matamata, common snake-neck..., hawksbill turtle, twist-necked turtle, Central Americant..., pig-nosed river t..., loggerhead turtle, olive ridley turtle, common snapping t..., alligator snappin..., Central American ... and 48 more...
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Monovocalics
Words that have only one of the vowels. On this list I include only words with at least three vowels. When I first started the list, if a word had several forms, I generally listed only the one wit...
syzygy, mirific, cumulus, homolog, monocot, bedewed, jezebel, referee, bikini, minikin, locomotor, terebenthene and 2359 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for matamata.
mollusque Bilby, I'm finally getting around retagging my monovocalics. Originally I tagged them with aaa, eee, iii, ooo, or uuu, regardless of how many vowels. Mar 3, 2008
bilby Looks like the tag should be aaaa. And that's about the extent of my maths ability :-7 Dec 16, 2007
mollusque A large turtle from northern South America; a South American tree of the genus Eschweilera. Dec 16, 2007