Chinook
Americannoun
plural
Chinooks,plural
Chinook-
a member of a formerly numerous North American Indian people originally inhabiting the northern shore of the mouth of the Columbia River and the adjacent territory.
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either of the two languages of the Chinook Indians.
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(lowercase) a warm, dry wind that blows at intervals down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
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(lowercase) chinook salmon.
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a U.S. Army cargo helicopter in service since 1962 and capable of ferrying 12 tons of supplies and troops.
noun
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a Native American people of the Pacific coast near the Columbia River
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the language of this people, probably forming a separate branch of the Penutian phylum
noun
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Also called: snow eater. a warm dry southwesterly wind blowing down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
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Also called: wet chinook. a warm moist wind blowing onto the Washington and Oregon coasts from the sea
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A moist, warm wind blowing from the sea in coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest.
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A warm, dry wind descending from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, causing a rapid rise in temperature. These winds often melt snow quite rapidly, at times at a rate of up to a foot per hour.
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See also foehn
Etymology
Origin of chinook
C19: from Salish c`inuk
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.
The hearings are being held after a three-year shutdown of commercial salmon fishing because of a decline in the Chinook salmon population.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2026
We’re not like the Chinook salmon that seek out upriver spawning zones or feline species that go into heat each spring and summer.
From Salon • Dec. 19, 2025
Populations of Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, Delta smelt and other species have been declining in recent years.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2025
A twin-prop Chinook helicopter shatters the calm of the Dutch countryside, hovering just metres from a canal before dumping four huge sandbags into the water: welcome to Operation Cloudburst.
From Barron's • Nov. 7, 2025
As Rooster Jim had noted, a Chinook had blown through a few days before, warming the prairie.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
