turtle up

Verb

Meaning

turtle up (third-person singular simple present turtles up, present participle turtling up, simple past and past participle turtled up)

(idiomatic, intransitive) To be defensive or hypervigilant; to adopt a defensive posture; to avoid conflict

Source: en.wiktionary.org

Examples

Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help. Alex Haley

Close letter words and terms

turtle stew turtle suit turtle trading turtle vine turtle's pace turtle-back