noun

tomahawk

TOM-uh-hawk

noun

A light axe traditionally used by Native American warriors, originally made of stone, bone, or antler.

"The museum exhibit included a ceremonial tomahawk decorated with beads."

A basketball dunk performed with the arm swung behind the head before slamming the ball through the hoop.

"He finished the fast break with a two-handed tomahawk dunk."

A long-range cruise missile (the BGM-109 Tomahawk) launched from ships or submarines.

"The navy destroyer fired several Tomahawk missiles at the target."

verb

To strike or cut with a tomahawk.

"The warrior tomahawked through the brush to clear a path."

How to Use Tomahawk

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA traditional Native American hand axe; the word is also used for a slam-dunk style and a type of cruise missile.

Common pairings

tomahawk dunk tomahawk missile

tomahawked past tense, tomahawks plural, Tomahawks plural, tomahawks singular

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The museum exhibit included a ceremonial _____ decorated with beads.

From an Eastern Algonquian word, likely Powhatan "tumahák," related to words for "axe" in several other Algonquian languages.

seahawk