tusk

Meaning

Noun

1. One of a pair of elongated pointed teeth that extend outside the mouth of an animal such as walrus, elephant or wild boar, and which continue to grow throughout the animal's life.
2. A small projection on a (tusk) tenon.
3. A tusk shell.
4. A projecting member like a tenon, and serving the same or a similar purpose, but composed of several steps, or offsets, called teeth.
5. A sharp point.
6. The share of a plough.

Verb

1. To dig up using a tusk, as boars do.
2. To gore with the tusks.
3. (obsolete) To bare or gnash the teeth.

Synonyms

fang

ivory

horn

tooth

🦷

canine teeth

canine tooth

tush

large tooth

detusk

cuspid

proscription

torsk

tusks

veto

vindication

prohibition

elephant tusk

brosmius

bicuspid

elephant’s tooth

canine

cusk

defence

disallowance

dogtooth

excuse

incisor

justification

prong

Translations

défense

colmillo

Stoßzahn

slagtand

zanna

Hauer

χαυλιόδοντας

défense d’éléphant

ullal

presa

Fangzahn

dent saillante

Eckzahn

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtʌsk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: tusk

Inherited from Old English: tūx

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Tusk

Cognate with Western Frisian: tosk

Cognate with Icelandic: toskur

Cognate with Gothic: 𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌿𐍃

In summary

From Middle English tusk (also tux, tusch), from Old English tūx, tūsc (“canine tooth, tusk, molar”), from Proto-West Germanic *tų̄sk, *tunsk, from Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz (“canine tooth”), extended form of *tanþs (“tooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tusk (“tooth”), West Frisian tosk (“tooth”), Icelandic toskur (“a tusk, tooth”) (whence the Old Norse and Icelandic Ratatoskr and Ratatoskur respectively), Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌿𐍃 (tunþus, “tooth”) and *𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹 (*tundi, “thorn, tooth”). Doublet of tush. More at tooth.