papoose en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /pəˈpuːs/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Borrowed from Narragansett papoos (“a child”).
Meanings
-
(US, dated, offensive) A Native American baby.
[…] a half-breed what they nicknamed "Splinters" 'cos of the way he fixed up her papoose which he stole on a raid […]
1893, Bram Stoker, The Squaw:They say he has Indian blood in him. They say he has an Indian wife somewhere, and a lot of papooses. Cherokee.
1930, Edna Ferber, Cimarron, page 11:In the empty Houston streets of four o’clock in the morning a motorcycle kid suddenly roared through, all bespangled and bedecked with glittering buttons, visor, slick black jacket, a Texas poet of the night, girl gripped on his back like a papoose, […]
1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 8, in On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, part 2:
- (UK) A backpack for carrying a baby, or specifically a cradleboard.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| papooses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |