tomahawk

Meaning

Noun

1. An axe used by Native American warriors, originally made of stone, bone, or antler.
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. 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.

Verb

1. To strike or cut up with a tomahawk.
2. To girdle or incise the trees around (an area of land) so as to claim ownership of it.
3. To perform a tomahawk dunk.

Synonyms

hatchet

axe

🪓

war club

stone axe

tomahavk

club

tomcat

scalp

tom

cat

😺

small axe

poggamoggan

stone ax

ax

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtɑ.mə.hɔk/

Etymology

Cognate with Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: tomhikon

Cognate with Western Abnaki: temahigan

In summary

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