Broken Arrow

¹ American  

[broh-kuhn ar-oh] / ˈbroʊ kən ˈær oʊ /

Or broken arrow

noun

U.S. Military.

1. 1. a nuclear weapon that has been removed from the arsenal by theft, loss, accidental launch or detonation, etc., but has not resulted in harm.

   2. the theft, accidental launch, or other event that causes such a weapon to be removed from the arsenal.

2. a code phrase summoning all military aircraft in the area to the immediate support of ground forces about to be overwhelmed.

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Broken Arrow ² American  

[broh-kuhn ar-oh] / ˈbroʊ kən ˈær oʊ /

noun

1. a town in northeastern Oklahoma.

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Etymology

Origin of Broken Arrow

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

The one warlike note was a comic-strip series of sketches showing a duel between centaurs, which ended with the loser crumpled across a broken arrow and the horned winner looking downcast.

From Time Magazine Archive

Springing back over the fence she wrote the letters “O. K.” underneath the broken arrow and the triangle.

From The Meadow-Brook Girls Across Country The Young Pathfinders on a Summer Hike by Aldridge, Janet

With my hands and face scratched, and my chest skinned and my shirt and trousers torn, bearing my bow and my broken arrow, like a wild boy I burst out upon them.

From Pluck on the Long Trail Boy Scouts in the Rockies by Sabin, Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand)

He held out a broken arrow to me.

From A King's Comrade A Story of Old Hereford by Whistler, Charles W. (Charles Watts)

This was a broken arrow of black sorrows near the East River, straight East from Gramercy.

From Fate Knocks at the Door A Novel by Comfort, Will Levington