apache

[ uh-pahsh, uh-pash; French a-pash ]

/ əˈpɑʃ, əˈpæʃ; French aˈpaʃ /

noun, plural a·paches [uh-pah-shiz, uh-pash-iz; French a-pash] /əˈpɑ ʃɪz, əˈpæʃ ɪz; French aˈpaʃ/.

a Parisian gangster, rowdy, or ruffian.

Nearby words

ap star, ap-, ap., apa, apace, apache, apache dance, apache plume, apachean, apaches, apalachee bay

Origin of apache

1735–45, Americanism; < French: Apache

Definition for apaches (2 of 2)

Apache

[ uh-pach-ee ]

/ əˈpætʃ i /

noun, plural A·pach·es, (especially collectively) A·pach·e.

a member of an Athabaskan people of the southwestern U.S.

any of the several Athabaskan 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.

Origin of Apache

1915–20; < Mexican Spanish, perhaps < Zuni ʔa·paču Navajos, presumably applied formerly to the Apacheans (Navajos and Apaches) generally

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for apaches

But the Apaches are short range and need maintenance troops to deploy with them into a location within Iraq itself.
Air Force Pilots Say They're Flying Blind Against ISIS|Dave Majumdar|October 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One pilot friend in Zwara pointed out that just “two Apaches,” attack helicopters, would intimidate the militias into a ceasefire.
It’s Not the USA that Made Libya the Disaster it is Today|Ann Marlowe|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Earlier this year, army Apaches shot up several convoys that refused to stop while navigating mountainous dunes near the border.
On the Contraband Trail With Libya’s Gun Smugglers|Peter Schwartzstein|June 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Apaches used what was once a marshy ciénaga as a water hole for centuries.
Big-Sky West Texas: A Road Trip Through Hidden America|Condé Nast Traveler|March 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Not long after the Spanish conquistadores explored the region for gold, they began snatching Apaches and other natives as slaves.
The Bin Laden of His Day? A New Biography of Geronimo|Marc Wortman|December 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST
One hunter who escaped the ambush reported that an overwhelming number of Apaches were in the wooded hills.
The Pinos Altos Story|Dorothy Watson
This, too, may have been by the order of the Government, but the Apaches do not understand it.
Geronimo's Story of His Life|Geronimo
Individually, I succeeded in making friends with most of these Apaches.
Forty Years Among the Indians|Daniel W. Jones
Perhaps the Navaho and Apaches never had totemic names for their exogamous local groups.
Method in the Study of Totemism|Andrew Lang
Besides the risk of encountering the Apaches, there was the ever-present peril from wild beasts and venomous serpents.
Through Apache Lands|R. H. Jayne

British Dictionary definitions for apaches (1 of 2)

apache

/ (əˈpɑːʃ, -ˈpæʃ, French apaʃ) /

noun

a Parisian gangster or ruffian

Word Origin for apache

from French: Apache

British Dictionary definitions for apaches (2 of 2)

Apache

/ (əˈpætʃɪ) /

noun

plural Apaches or Apache 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

Word Origin for Apache

from Mexican Spanish, probably from Zuñi Apachu, literally: enemy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for apaches

Apaches

[ (uh-pach-eez) ]

A tribe of Native Americans who live in the southwestern United States. Geronimo was an Apache.