Definition of "turtle-shell" [tur•tle-shell]

• Tortoise shell. See under Tortoise. (noun)
• The turtle cowrie. (noun)

Gnu Collaboartive International Dictionary of English: licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

• "He had farmed savages and savagery, and from fever and hardship, the crack of Sniders and the lash of the overseers, had wrested five millions of money in the form of beche-de-mer, sandalwood, pearl-shell and turtle-shell, ivory nuts and copra, grasslands, trading stations, and plantations."
• "Everything went that belonged to him, including the turtle-shell and the photographs and calendars on the wall."
• "They wore nose-rings of clam-shell and turtle-shell, and from the ends of their noses which were also pierced, projected horns of beads strung on stiff wire."