Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🛡️ Staying defensive 🚣 Boat flipping
turtling

turtling

8.5
A defensive way of playing where a player stays back and avoids action
  • noun
  • /ˈtɜrtlɪŋ/
  • Slang
translation icon : defensiva
  • In the final round of the competition, he resorted to turtling to protect his lead and avoid losing.

Examples

  • During the match, her turtling tactics frustrated her opponents, as she refused to make aggressive moves.

  • Actually, tower defense games are a type of real-time strategy game (the concept was derived from "turtling" strategies in RTS games such as Warcraft II and Starcraft).

    Blog text (25)

  • Many players choose turtling as a strategy when they feel overwhelmed by their opponents in online games.

Synonyms

evasive action
vsturtling
6 4.9

A quick move to avoid danger

stays defensive and avoids acting by remaining passive rather than moving to escape

Antonyms

attacking
4.3

Showing strong behavior to try to defeat or pressure others

How Defensive

turtling
  • Slang
8.5
defense
  • US
423 2.0

Surface Forms

turtling singular
turtlings plural

Morphology

turtling = turtle (transparent) = turtle + ing

The gaming sense is a direct metaphorical extension of the verb 'turtle' (adopt a defensive posture), so learners who know the verb can readily infer the noun.

Etymology

Turtling comes from turtle, the animal that pulls into its shell when it feels danger, so in games turtling means 'to stay safe and avoid action', like hiding in a shell until the moment is right.