Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A light ax formerly used as a tool or weapon by certain Native American peoples.
- noun A similar implement or weapon.
- transitive verb To strike with or as if with a tomahawk.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Specifically, to cut sheep when shearing them.
- To strike, cut, or kill with a tomahawk.
- noun The warax of the Indians of North America.
- noun In heraldry, a bearing representing a hatchet of some fanciful form, supposed to be an Indian tomahawk.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A kind of war hatchet used by the American Indians. It was originally made of stone, but afterwards of iron.
- transitive verb To cut, strike, or kill, with a tomahawk.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
ax /axe used byAmerican Indian (First Nations )warriors . - noun basketball : A
dunk in which the person dunking the ball does so with his arm behind his head - noun geometry A
geometric construction consisting of asemicircle and twoline segments that serves as a tool fortrisecting anangle ; so called from its resemblance to the American Indian axe. - noun field hockey A
field hockey shot style that involves a player turning theirhockey stick upside-down and swinging it so that its inside edge will come into contact with the ball. - verb To strike with a tomahawk.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb cut with a tomahawk
- noun weapon consisting of a fighting ax; used by North American Indians
- verb kill with a tomahawk
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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- Samm Levine, Actor ( "I Love You, Beth Cooper," "Inglourious Basterds") @davidspade so avatar was well done but i cant handle the 3d. im an adult, i dont need to feel like the tomahawk is coming at me. i realize its a movie
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He yanked his tomahawk from the tree where he had hurled it the night before and went off for the day.
Festival of the sugar maples M-mv 2005
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Tomahawk Creek need not have a direct American origin but indicates the early adoption in Australia of the word tomahawk as the normal word for a hatchet.
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The firebrand and the tomahawk were the weapons employed by the Indians to accomplish their purpose of destroying the advancing power of the white man; and so mercilessly did they use these that the outposts of civilization were swept away as by a whirlwind.
The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 4, April, 1886 Various
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The tomahawk is a sign of war and victory for his prophet and
Modern Persia Mooshie G. Daniel
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Throwing the tomahawk was another boyish sport, in which many acquired considerable skill.
Life of Daniel Boone, the Great Western Hunter and Pioneer Cecil B. Hartley
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Those who died by the tomahawk were the most fortunate.
The Fighting Governer : A Chronicle of Frontenac Charles William Colby 1911
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The barrel of his piece was riven, his tomahawk was a mere shard of rusted steel, on many of his accoutrements the vapour of fire had passed.
In the Wrong Paradise Andrew Lang 1878
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Bounce smoked a tomahawk, which is a small iron hatchet used by most of the Indians of North America as a battle-axe.
The Wild Man of the West A Tale of the Rocky Mountains Archibald Webb 1859
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The tomahawk was the great object of attraction, after that the knife, but I think the looking-glass surprised them most.
Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia William John Wills 1847
bilby commented on the word tomahawk
Apparently the hockey meaning given by Wiktionary - "n. A field hockey shot style that involves a player turning their hockey stick upside-down and swinging it so that its inside edge will come into contact with the ball." - is much more common in Australia and New Zealand.
June 9, 2014
bilby commented on the word tomahawk
Possibly a loan word from the sport of tomahawkey.
June 9, 2014