Chiricahua

American  

[chir-i-kah-wuh] / ˌtʃɪr ɪˈkɑ wə /

noun

• Chiricahuas,
  plural
• Chiricahua
  plural

1. a member of an Apache group that comprises several Apache bands, formerly located in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, now living primarily in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

2. the Athabascan language of the Chiricahua, differing only dialectically from Navaho.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Chiricahua
  plural
• Chiricahuas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Chiricahua

First recorded in 1885–90; via Spanish from Opata (extinct Uto-Aztecan language of Sonora) Chihuicahui or Chiguicagui “Mountain of the Wild Turkey” (now the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Chiricahua Chiricahuas

Moffett, who studies the social behavior of ants and other animals, noticed the interaction while visiting a research station in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 14, 2026

Another, named Sombra, was also spotted in Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains later that year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024

Gen. Henry Lawton, who’d fought in the Union Army and famously commanded the cavalry troop that “captured” the Chiricahua Apache leader Geronimo.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2022

Posted outside Cave Creek Ranch in the Chiricahua Mountains, about 150 miles southeast of Tucson, a schedule of the expected arrival dates of migrating and seasonal birds anticipated the elegant trogon on April 6.

From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2021

They would whisk along the long, shimmering highway to El Patrons other house in the Chiricahua Mountains.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

But there were two elements in the problem Capitan Pasqual had failed to consider,—Lieutenant Drummond's scout in the Christobal, Cochises's band of Chiricahuas in the Santa Maria.

From Foes in Ambush by Charles King

Then he swung himself into the saddle and rode away, straight down the narrow arroyo, out beyond its lower widening, into the vast plains the hither side of the Chiricahuas.

From Arizona Nights by Stewart Edward White

Far to the south rise the rugged Chiricahuas, and nearby stands bald Dos Cabezas, whose giant double head of granite can be seen as a conspicuous landmark over a wide scope of country.

From Arizona Sketches by J. A. (Joseph Amasa) Munk

None of the white men overheard that remark, and none of them dreamed of watching Chiricahuas after what had occurred at the spring.

From The Red Mustang by William O. Stoddard

"The two bands, Chiricahuas and Mescaleros, are almost like different tribes," was the explanation Vic received from her mother.

From The Red Mustang by William O. Stoddard