Chinook
noun
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.
Chinook
American
[shi-nook, -nook, chi-]
/ ʃɪˈnʊk, -ˈnuk, tʃɪ- /
noun
-
Chinooks,
plural
-
Chinook
plural
-
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.
-
either of the two languages of the Chinook Indians.
-
(lowercase) a warm, dry wind that blows at intervals down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
-
(lowercase) chinook salmon.
-
a U.S. Army cargo helicopter in service since 1962 and capable of ferrying 12 tons of supplies and troops.
chinook
1
British
/ -ˈnʊk, tʃɪˈnuːk /
noun
-
Also called: snow eater. a warm dry southwesterly wind blowing down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
-
Also called: wet chinook. a warm moist wind blowing onto the Washington and Oregon coasts from the sea
Chinook
2
British
/ -ˈnʊk, tʃɪˈnuːk /
noun
-
a Native American people of the Pacific coast near the Columbia River
-
the language of this people, probably forming a separate branch of the Penutian phylum
chinook
Scientific
/ shĭ-nk′,chĭ- /
-
A moist, warm wind blowing from the sea in coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest.
-
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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chinook
C19: from Salish c`inuk
Explanation
A chinook is a very big fish, a type of salmon that's found in the Pacific Ocean. Chinooks are also known as "king salmon." In addition to the giant salmon that's commonly fished from Alaska to California, the word chinook is also used for a particular type of wind. This meteorological chinook is a warm, dry wind that blows down from a mountain range during the end of the winter season. Both types of chinook are named for the Chinook people, a Pacific Northwest indigenous group.
Vocabulary lists containing chinook
Amazing Animals, A-Z
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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:
They have been counting heavily on aerial assistance to bring the situation under control, with two water-bombing aircraft from Sweden and two Dutch military Chinook helicopters backing up two Belgian helicopters on site.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
A Chinook helicopter carrying 25 passengers and four crew crashed in the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland on 2 June 1994, killing all of those on board.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The effort has included helicopters to move personnel and supplies, CH-47 Chinook helicopters to move aid inland, and satellite imagery provided by the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
The most numerous are the fall-run Chinook, which fishers catch commercially and recreationally along the coast when salmon numbers are high enough.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
“That Chinook that blew through yesterday will warm things up some.”
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife wrote that it is concerned about weakened protections for winter-run and spring-run chinook salmon, steelhead trout, delta smelt and longfin smelt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025
It’s a ceremony held to ensure the continuance of spring-run chinook.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024
Biologists expect that with the dams now removed and the Klamath flowing freely, all types of native fish will benefit, including fall-run and spring-run chinook as well as coho salmon, steelhead trout and Pacific lampreys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024
Soto, who has worked for the tribe for more than two decades, said that 15 years ago, it wouldn’t have been difficult to find chinook salmon here in Wooley Creek.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2024
He and Harry Secor had worked together to stalk the giant chinook salmon of the Dungeness River.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
A subsequent review by Lord Philip set out "numerous concerns" raised by those who worked on the Chinooks.
From BBC ● May 25, 2025
For example, the maps highlight a hotspot for Chinooks gathering in the Bering Sea.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 16, 2024
Wayne Coulson, chief executive of Coulson Aviation, said the Chinooks are the industry’s most powerful CH-47 firefighting helicopters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2023
Chinooks were the aircraft used to evacuate U.S. embassy personnel from Sudan in April.
From Washington Times ● May 11, 2023
A singular custom prevails, not merely among the Chinooks, but among most of the tribes about this part of the coast, which is the flattening of the forehead.
From Astoria, or, anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains by Washington Irving
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.
