Chiricahua

American  

[chir-i-kah-wuh] / ˌtʃɪr ɪˈkɑ wə /

noun

• Chiricahuas,
  plural
• Chiricahua
  plural

1. a member of an Apache group that comprises several Apache bands, formerly located in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, now living primarily in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

2. the Athabascan language of the Chiricahua, differing only dialectically from Navaho.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Chiricahua
  plural
• Chiricahuas
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Chiricahua

First recorded in 1885–90; via Spanish from Opata (extinct Uto-Aztecan language of Sonora) Chihuicahui or Chiguicagui “Mountain of the Wild Turkey” (now the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Chiricahua Chiricahuas

Moffett, who studies the social behavior of ants and other animals, noticed the interaction while visiting a research station in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 14, 2026

Another, named Sombra, however, was spotted in Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains later that year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2023

Gen. Henry Lawton, who’d fought in the Union Army and famously commanded the cavalry troop that “captured” the Chiricahua Apache leader Geronimo.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2022

Posted outside Cave Creek Ranch in the Chiricahua Mountains, about 150 miles southeast of Tucson, a schedule of the expected arrival dates of migrating and seasonal birds anticipated the elegant trogon on April 6.

From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2021

El Patron had to stay in bed until he felt well enough to travel to his other house in the Chiricahua Mountains.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

It was followed by the hasty return of one of the Chiricahuas to announce that he had found the trail of the Apaches and that it led towards the south, into Mexico.

From The Red Mustang by William O. Stoddard

"The two bands, Chiricahuas and Mescaleros, are almost like different tribes," was the explanation Vic received from her mother.

From The Red Mustang by William O. Stoddard

The Chiricahuas were not needed any more, considering what had become of The-boy-whose-ear-pushed-away-a-piece-of-lead.

From The Red Mustang by William O. Stoddard

The whole line wheeled and shouted and searched hither and thither, and not any were more active than were the three Chiricahuas.

From The Red Mustang by William O. Stoddard

Neither of us knew anything of mining, but we were both thirsty for adventure, and took a schoolboy delight in playing the game of life or death with the Chiricahuas.

From Arizona Nights by Stewart Edward White

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