Dictionary

tomahawk en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈtɑ.mə.hɑk/
• /ˈtɒm.ə.hɔːk/ (UK)
• /ˈtɑ.mə.hɔk/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From an Eastern Algonquian word, most likely Powhatan tumahák; compare also Malecite-Passamaquoddy tomhikon (“axe”), Abenaki temahigan, demahigan (“axe”).

Meanings

1. An axe used by Native American warriors, originally made of stone, bone, or antler.
   • yeerely bring into our store house, at the beginning of their haruest two bushels of corne a man […] for which they should receiue so many Iron Tomahawkes or small hatchets. 1615, Ralph Hamor, A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia, Richmond, published 1957, page 13:
   • At first, her presence was not observed; but, no sooner did the stranger catch a glimpse of her person, than he stopped, raised his hands in surprise, laid his rifle against a tree, and sprang forward; the girl closing her eyes, and sinking on the seat, with bowed head, expecting the blow of the deadly tomahawk. 1843, [James Fenimore Cooper], Wyandotté, or The Hutted Knoll. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lea and Blanchard, →OCLC, page 178:
2. A dunk performed with one's arm behind one's head.
3. A geometric construction consisting of a semicircle and two line segments that serves as a tool for trisecting an angle; so called from its resemblance to the American Indian axe.
4. (qualifier:field hockey) 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.

Forms

Deriveds

tomahawk chop · tomahawker · tomax · pipehawk · tomahawk mark · Tomahawk · Uncle Tomahawk · tomahawk steak · tomahawk settler · tomahawked · pipe tomahawk · tomahawk improvement · blow tomahawks

Synonyms

hatchet

Translations (44)

cmn 印第安戰斧 /印第安战斧 (American Indian axe) · hi तोमाहॉक (American Indian axe) · mus pucuswvce (American Indian axe) · sh tomahavk (American Indian axe) · sk tomahavk (American Indian axe) · bg томаха́вка (American Indian axe) · fi tomahawk (American Indian axe) · pt tomahawk (American Indian axe) · be тамага́ўк (American Indian axe) · it tomahawk (American Indian axe) · ru томага́вк (American Indian axe) · lkt čhaŋȟpí (American Indian axe) · hy տոմահավկ (American Indian axe) · sh томахавк (American Indian axe) · one atkulé·ki (American Indian axe) · cmn 戰斧 /战斧 (American Indian axe) · see gají:wa’ (American Indian axe) · ari kanistarahí (American Indian axe) · tpi tamiok (American Indian axe) · de Tomahawk (American Indian axe) · chy tȯhoo'o (American Indian axe) · pl tomahawk (American Indian axe) · he טומהוק (American Indian axe) · sl tomahavk (American Indian axe) · ko 토마호크 (American Indian axe) · pqm tomhikon (American Indian axe) · cs tomahavk (American Indian axe) · eo tomahoko (American Indian axe) · mi pīauau (American Indian axe) · cro iilúxxiiwaatchipe (American Indian axe) · mr टॉमाहॉक (American Indian axe) · taa tthabasr (American Indian axe) · fr tomahawk (American Indian axe) · unm tëmahikàn (American Indian axe) · lt tomahaukas (American Indian axe) · tun yaruhtohku (American Indian axe) · mk томаха́вка (American Indian axe) · es tomahawk (tomahok) (American Indian axe) · ja トマホーク (American Indian axe) · hi टोमाहॉक (American Indian axe) · otw waagaakdoons (American Indian axe) · cho iskifushi (American Indian axe) · uk томага́вк (American Indian axe) · ka ტომაჰავკი (American Indian axe)

tomahawk en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈtɑ.mə.hɑk/
• /ˈtɒm.ə.hɔːk/ (UK)
• /ˈtɑ.mə.hɔk/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From an Eastern Algonquian word, most likely Powhatan tumahák; compare also Malecite-Passamaquoddy tomhikon (“axe”), Abenaki temahigan, demahigan (“axe”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To strike or cut up with a tomahawk.
   • In a moment the savage wretches dashed at him, and "tomahawked" the unfortunate man, who fell backwards into his cabin. 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 296:
   • Not satisfied with tomahawking our colleagues in the country, they ask the scanty remnant in the House to join in the scalp dance. 1906, FE Smith, maiden speech to House of Commons, 12 Mar 1906
2. (historical, transitive) To girdle or incise the trees around (an area of land) so as to claim ownership of it.
   • Meantime, Silas Zane passed on and came to the forks, and admiring the locality, he tomahawked his right to it, securing one thousand acres. 1915, Chronicles of the Cochrans: Being a Series of Historical Events and Narratives, in which Members of this Family Have Played a Prominent Part, page 55:
   • They tomahawked the land they settled on and were joined by other settlers. Each settler picked out the piece of land that he or, in some instances, she desired which resulted in oddly shaped plats when they were later surveyed. 2011, Don Corbly, Pastor John Corbly and his neighbors in Greene Township, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 23:
   • He was the owner of 1,300 acres of land bought from the government and located where the city of Lexington, Ky., now stands. After his marriage he tomahawked an area of 600 acres near Carmichaelstown, […] 1909, Samuel Gordon Smyth, A Genealogy of the Duke-Shepherd-Van Metre Family: From Civil, Military, Church and Family Records and Documents, page 67:
   • The Germans thought that by just tomahawking a claim and living on it, it was an "improvement" and that was sufficient for claim; but not so with the Land Office. The land had to be legally registered and taxes paid on it […] 1993, H. Austin Cooper, Two Centuries of Brothersvalley Church of the Brethren, 1762-1962: An Account of the Old Colonial Church, the Stony Creek German Baptist Church and the Area of Bruedersthal in which the Brethren Settled in the Summer of 1762, and Organized by Elder George Adam Martin, Presiding Elder:
3. (transitive) To perform a tomahawk dunk.
   • When the league held its first slam-dunk contest in 1984 in Denver, Nance, then a Phoenix Sun, soared into the rafters with a basketball in each hand and tomahawked each one through the net before floating back to earth […] 2007, Bob Dyer, The Top 20 Moments in Cleveland Sports, page 237:

Forms

Deriveds

tomahawker · tomahawking