Choctaw

American  

[chok-taw] / ˈtʃɒk tɔ /

noun

plural

Choctaws,

plural

Choctaw

1. a member of a large Muskhogean tribe of North American Indians, formerly living chiefly in southern Mississippi, now in Oklahoma.

2. the language of the Choctaw, closely related to Chickasaw.

3. Informal: Offensive. something unintelligible, as speech, illegible handwriting, or an ineffectual explanation; gibberish.

   My best efforts at clarity were Choctaw to him.

4. Figure Skating. choctaw, a type of turn that changes the skater’s orientation in either direction, from skating forward to backward or backward to forward, with a change of foot from right to left or left to right, and a change of edge from outside to inside or inside to outside.

   The quickstep compulsory dance requires a choctaw from the forward outside edge of the skating foot to the backward inside edge of the other foot.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Choctaw or their language.

Choctaw ¹ British  

/ ˈtʃɒktɔː /

noun

1. a member of a Native American people of Alabama

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Muskogean family

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choctaw ² British  

/ ˈtʃɒktɔː /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of Choctaw

First recorded in 1720–30; from Choctaw chahta, a self-designation of unknown meaning