Choctaw

[ chok-taw ]

noun

, plural Choc·taws, (especially collectively) Choc·taw

1. a member of a large Muskhogean tribe of North American Indians, formerly living chiefly in southern Mississippi, now in Oklahoma.
2. the language of the Choctaw, closely related to Chickasaw.
3. Informal: Offensive. something unintelligible, as speech, illegible handwriting, or an ineffectual explanation; gibberish: Greek ( def 6 ).

   My best efforts at clarity were Choctaw to him.

4. choctaw, Figure Skating. a type of turn that changes the skater’s orientation in either direction, from skating forward to backward or backward to forward, with a change of foot from right to left or left to right, and a change of edge from outside to inside or inside to outside:

   The quickstep compulsory dance requires a choctaw from the forward outside edge of the skating foot to the backward inside edge of the other foot.

adjective

1. of or relating to the Choctaw or their language.

Choctaw

¹

/ ˈtʃɒktɔː /

noun

1. -taws-taw a member of a Native American people of Alabama
2. the language of this people, belonging to the Muskogean family

choctaw

²

/ ˈtʃɒktɔː /

noun

1. skating a turn from the inside edge of one skate to the outside edge of the other or vice versa

Word History and Origins

Origin of Choctaw¹

First recorded in 1720–30; from Choctaw chahta, a self-designation of unknown meaning

Word History and Origins

Origin of Choctaw¹

C18: from Choctaw Chahta

Origin of Choctaw²

C19: after Choctaw

Example Sentences

The first playmates of our infancy were the young Choctaw boys of the then woods of Warren county.

From Project Gutenberg

They participate equally in the advantages of the Choctaw academy, and have had many of their youth educated at that institution.

From Project Gutenberg

Eagle Dance, Choctaw—Holding the eagles tail in the hand, and bodies painted white.

From Project Gutenberg

At length six hundred Choctaw warriors arrived, and the army resumed its march.

From Project Gutenberg

Every one knows who his mother, in our sense, is: the Choctaw term denotes a tribal status.

From Project Gutenberg