Trip, near turning turtle (8)
I believe the answer is:
terrapin
'turtle' is the definition.
(I know that terrapin is a type of turtle)
'trip near turning' is the wordplay.
'turning' indicates anagramming the letters.
'trip'+'near'='tripnear'
'tripnear' is an anagram of 'TERRAPIN'.
(Other definitions for terrapin that I've seen before include "Web-footed turtle" , "Swimmer" , "A reptile; a printer (anag.)" , "Hardback" , "Aquatic tortoise" .)