Word of the Day for Tuesday December 13, 2005 carapace \KAIR-uh-pace\, noun: 1. The thick shell that covers the back of the turtle, the crab, and other animals. 2. Something likened to a shell that serves to protect or isolate from external influence. . . . a gauge for measuring the length of a lobster's carapace from the thorax to the eye socket. --Richard Adams Carey, [1]Against the Tide Hannah Jelkes,... who wears an air of cool reserve like a carapace. --Howard Taubman, "Theatre: 'Night of the Iguana' Opens," [2]New York Times, December 29, 1961 Desperate to win his father's attention and respect, Kennedy became a hard man for a long while, covering over his sensitivity and capacity for empathy with a carapace of arrogance. --Evan Thomas, [3]Robert Kennedy: His Life Eisenman, who is Meier's second cousin, was so neurotically insecure about his abilities that he sought to hide them within the dense carapace of arcane theory. --Martin Filler, "The Spirit of '76," [4]New Republic, July 9, 2001 Almost all the vivid, eyewitness accounts we have... date from a quarter of a century later, when Degas, celebrated and successful, had developed a crusty, cantankerous carapace, from which he emerged occasionally to deliver his famously caustic and enigmatic mots. --Christopher E. G. Benfey, [5]Degas in New Orleans _________________________________________________________ Carapace comes from French, from Spanish carapacho. References 1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/061805698x/ref=nosim/lexico 2. http://www.nytimes.com/ 3. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0684834804/ref=nosim/lexico 4. http://www.tnr.com/ 5. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0520218183/ref=nosim/lexico Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=carapace