Choctaw

[chok-taw]

noun, plural Choc·taws, (especially collectively) Choc·taw for 1.

a member of a large Muskhogean tribe of North American Indians, formerly living chiefly in southern Mississippi, now in Oklahoma.
the language of the Choctaw, closely related to Chickasaw.
something unintelligible, as speech, illegible handwriting, or an ineffectual explanation; gibberish: My best efforts at clarity were Choctaw to him.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for choctaw

babble, baloney, gibberish, gobbledygook, hogwash, malarkey, nonsense, rubbish, hooey, Choctaw, Greek, hokum

Examples from the Web for choctaw

Historical Examples of choctaw

But in the Choctaw language, syllables often end with consonants.
History, Manners, and Customs of the North American Indians
George Mogridge
Some of the leading pioneers of the Choctaw nation were buried here.
The Choctaw Freedmen
Robert Elliott Flickinger
A contretemps less likely to occur at the Choctaw Chief, and there stayed they.
The Death Shot
Mayne Reid
The drinking “saloon” of the Choctaw Chief is quite emptied of its guests.
The Death Shot
Mayne Reid
It is my conviction that Shakespeare's sailor-talk would be Choctaw to him.
What Is Man? And Other Stories
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

British Dictionary definitions for choctaw

choctaw

noun

skating a turn from the inside edge of one skate to the outside edge of the other or vice versa

Word Origin for choctaw

C19: after Choctaw

Choctaw

noun

plural -taws or -taw a member of a Native American people of Alabama
the language of this people, belonging to the Muskogean family

Word Origin for Choctaw

C18: from Choctaw Chahta

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

Word Origin and History for choctaw

Choctaw

1722, from Choctaw Chahta, of uncertain meaning, but also said to be from Spanish chato "flattened," for the tribe's custom of flattening the heads of male infants. As a figure skating step, first recorded 1892. Sometimes used in 19c. American English as typical of a difficult or incomprehensible language (cf. Greek in this sense from c.1600).