apache
noun
a Parisian gangster, rowdy, or ruffian.
apache
1 American
[uh-pahsh, uh-pash, a -pash]
/ əˈpɑʃ, əˈpæʃ, aˈpaʃ /
noun
-
apaches
plural
Apache
2
American
[uh-pach-ee]
/ əˈpætʃ i /
noun
-
Apaches,
plural
-
Apache
plural
-
a member of an Athabascan people of the southwestern United States.
-
any of the several Athabascan languages of Arizona and the Rio Grande basin.
-
Military. a two-man U.S. Army helicopter designed to attack enemy armor with rockets or a 30mm gun and equipped for use in bad weather and in darkness.
adjective
Apache
1
British
/ əˈpætʃɪ /
noun
-
a member of a North American Indian people, formerly nomadic and warlike, inhabiting the southwestern US and N Mexico
-
the language of this people, belonging to the Athapascan group of the Na-Dene phylum
apache
2
British
/ əˈpɑːʃ, apaʃ, -ˈpæʃ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of apache1
1735–45, < French: Apache
Origin of Apache2
First recorded in 1915–20; from Mexican Spanish, perhaps from Zuni ʔa·paču “Navajos,” presumably applied formerly to the Apacheans (Navajos and Apaches) generally
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He’s Dad the destroyer, who mapped out the steps for the apache dance that defines his children’s lives.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2014
But the broken, jagged heart of this production belongs to Ms. Rodriguez and Mr. Cannavale, who turn their characters’ relationship into a bruising, tragicomic apache dance of love, betrayal and indecision.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2011
The result is a bravura hodgepodge of Spanish and gypsy dances, pas de deux, a smattering of light-footed cupids and dryads and, for some obscure reason, a jig resembling a French apache dance.
From Time Magazine Archive
No, mon ami, the boy is not so powerful, but the alley has two ends—I do not desire to be arrested while I am giving a lifelike representation of an apache.
From A Chair on the Boulevard by Leonard Merrick
The men were mostly of the Parisian apache type, though naturally more swarthy; the women were mostly in black dresses, with shawls of brilliantly colored silk and tawdry combs in their black hair.
From The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett by Compton MacKenzie
The U.S. military has grounded its Apache helicopters after two soldiers were killed near Fort Hood, Texas.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Boeing makes the Apache attack helicopter for militaries around the world.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
In June, the Navy used them to rescue the crew of an Apache helicopter that was downed off the coast of Oman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Breakdance posse The Rock Steady Crew are introduced with a blast of the Apache drumbeat.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
There were stories of the Apache Wars in the Wild West, a new circus act called a flying trapeze, and Abraham Lincoln arguing that Kansas should be a free state and not slave.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Kid Rock, a supporter of President Donald Trump, posted a video of himself gesturing at the AH-64 Apaches above his swimming pool on Saturday, prompting many to question why the helicopters would visit his home.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Arcadia 5, El Dorado 4: The Apaches scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning, then held on for the National Classic win.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
With the Apaches in pursuit, Bendire placed the egg in his mouth and fled back to his troops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
Charles Bendire was leading a patrol against Apaches near what is now Tucson, Ariz., when he saw the nest of a zone-tailed hawk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
According to Grandma, a hundred years ago a tribe of Apaches had fought the U.S.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
From this radical start, she went on to order the fashionable women of three continents into the turtleneck sweaters of the apaches, to expose their knees and suppress their curves.
From Time Magazine Archive
But remember the crooks in Turn to the Right and the apaches in Seoenfh Heaven.
From Time Magazine Archive
Cowboys, apaches, and residents of Newport have probably far more grievous protests.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Mal frequenté" in Parisian argot has a variety of significations; in this particular instance it suggested apaches to me.
From The Merry-Go-Round by Carl Van Vechten
The place was packed—some said owing to the engagement of Andrea Korust and his brother, others to the presence of Mademoiselle Sophie Celaire in her wonderful danse des apaches.
From Peter Ruff and the Double Four by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
