apache
noun
a Parisian gangster, rowdy, or ruffian.
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kiowa apache.
apache
1 American
[uh-pahsh, uh-pash, a -pash]
/ əˈpɑʃ, əˈpæʃ, aˈpaʃ /
noun
apaches
plural
Apache
2
American
[uh-pach-ee]
/ əˈpætʃ i /
noun
Apaches,
plural
Apache
plural
-
a member of an Athabascan people of the southwestern United States.
-
any of the several Athabascan languages of Arizona and the Rio Grande basin.
-
Military. a two-man U.S. Army helicopter designed to attack enemy armor with rockets or a 30mm gun and equipped for use in bad weather and in darkness.
adjective
Apache
1
British
/ əˈpætʃɪ /
noun
-
a member of a North American Indian people, formerly nomadic and warlike, inhabiting the southwestern US and N Mexico
-
the language of this people, belonging to the Athapascan group of the Na-Dene phylum
apache
2
British
/ əˈpɑːʃ, apaʃ, -ˈpæʃ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of apache1
1735–45, < French: Apache
Origin of Apache2
First recorded in 1915–20; from Mexican Spanish, perhaps from Zuni ʔa·paču “Navajos,” presumably applied formerly to the Apacheans (Navajos and Apaches) generally
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:
He’s Dad the destroyer, who mapped out the steps for the apache dance that defines his children’s lives.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2014
But the broken, jagged heart of this production belongs to Ms. Rodriguez and Mr. Cannavale, who turn their characters’ relationship into a bruising, tragicomic apache dance of love, betrayal and indecision.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2011
The result is a bravura hodgepodge of Spanish and gypsy dances, pas de deux, a smattering of light-footed cupids and dryads and, for some obscure reason, a jig resembling a French apache dance.
From Time Magazine Archive
The men were mostly of the Parisian apache type, though naturally more swarthy; the women were mostly in black dresses, with shawls of brilliantly colored silk and tawdry combs in their black hair.
From The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett by MacKenzie, Compton
The lady wished Bouchotte to sing one of those apache songs which were giving such delight in the fashionable world.
From Anatole France The Revolt of the Angels by France, Anatole
Last week, Hegseth promised to intervene after Apache pilots were suspended for flying low-level over a beach in South Carolina.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Breakdance posse The Rock Steady Crew are introduced with a blast of the Apache drumbeat.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
That question vexes former Royal Netherlands Air Force Apache attack helicopter pilot Roy Lindelauf, who is now a professor of data science in the department of intelligent systems of Tilburg University.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
The two countries exchanged strikes after a US Apache helicopter crashed in the Gulf on Monday.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
“Gentlemen,” Apache Bill said when the tumult of his introduction had subsided.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Apaches have been flying low over the strait for maritime patrols and precision strikes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
Kid Rock, a supporter of President Donald Trump, posted a video of himself gesturing at the AH-64 Apaches above his swimming pool on Saturday, prompting many to question why the helicopters would visit his home.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
He added that the Apaches “have joined the fight on the southern flank.‘
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
“Faced with the government’s plan to destroy an ancient site of tribal worship, we owe the Apaches no less,” Gorsuch wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025
According to Grandma, a hundred years ago a tribe of Apaches had fought the U.S.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
From this radical start, she went on to order the fashionable women of three continents into the turtleneck sweaters of the apaches, to expose their knees and suppress their curves.
From Time Magazine Archive
But remember the crooks in Turn to the Right and the apaches in Seoenfh Heaven.
From Time Magazine Archive
Cowboys, apaches, and residents of Newport have probably far more grievous protests.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then there is an artist—the artist of whom you talk—who is one of the apaches!
From The Second Class Passenger Fifteen Stories by Gibbon, Perceval
Guilbert that the apaches were the logical descendants of the old chevaliers of France.
From Interpreters by Van Vechten, Carl
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.
