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• Choctaw
  Choctaw

  noun

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

  noun

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

Choctaw

American  

[chok-taw] / ˈtʃɒk tɔ /

noun

• Choctaws,
  plural
• Choctaw
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Choctaw
  plural
• Choctaws
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Choctaw

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Choctaw Choctaws

In Oklahoma, the Choctaw Nation had seen a 200 percent increase as of mid-March in reservations at its resorts and casinos.

From New York Times ● Apr. 8, 2024

Seattle’s queer and Native American communities are mourning the death of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teen of Choctaw descent who died a day after an altercation inside an Oklahoma high school bathroomlast month.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2024

The Benedict family, who have roots in the Choctaw Nation, welcomed discussions and questions of gender and identity, the Independent reported.

From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2024

The goal was to start a dialogue with the community because she wanted to incorporate Choctaw language, culture and history through tribal members’ perspective to tell an authentic story.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2024

An intellectually disabled black woman living in Choctaw County, Alabama, Ms. Banks was accused of killing her newborn child even though police had no credible basis for believing she had ever been pregnant.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Ron Cratenhad had a 17-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for the Choctaws.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2022

In the Southeast, tribes such as the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws occupied wide territories beyond the limits of white occupation and held the balance of power among the British, French, and Spanish empires.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

Somehow, somewhere in Louisiana, a few Choctaws escaped and traveled south, mingling with white settlers and members of other tribes, mixing their traditions with new practices picked up on the coast.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2017

Lower courts ruled that such a connection exists between Dollar General and the Mississippi Choctaws.

From US News ● Dec. 7, 2015

Before leaving Vincennes, Tecumseh informed Harrison that he was traveling south to bring the Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws into the alliance.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

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