noun. A hard bony or chitinous outer covering, such as the fused dorsal plates of a turtle or the portion of the exoskeleton covering the head and thorax of a crustacean.

noun. A protective, shell-like covering likened to that of a turtle or crustacean.

noun. The shell of a turtle or tortoise; specifically, the upper shell, the under shell being called the plastron.

noun. In Mammalia, the shell of an armadillo.

noun. In Cirripedia, the multivalvular shell, test, or case.

noun. In higher Crustacea, the shield covering the cephalothorax, sometimes separable into a cephalostegite and an omostegite. See cut under Apus.

noun. One of the many hard cases, tests, or shells which are likened to a carapace, as those of certain infusorians; a lorica.

noun. The thick shell or shield which covers the back of the tortoise, or turtle, the crab, and other crustaceous animals.

noun. A hard protective covering of bone or chitin.

noun. in figurative use

noun. hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles

"That's when that one claw grows really big and the main carapace grows into a very bulbous shape."

carapaced  carapaceous  carapacial  

scute  

cuticula  

anism  breastplate  chitin  cuticle  epidermis  

armor  chitin  cortex  elytron  episperm