warpath
[wawr-path, -pahth]
- the path or course taken by American Indians on a warlike expedition.
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- on the warpath,
- seeking, preparing for, or engaged in war or aggressive pursuit.
- in a state of anger or indignation; hostile.
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Origin of warpath
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
warpath
- the route taken by North American Indians on a warlike expedition
- on the warpath
- preparing to engage in battle
- informalin a state of anger
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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 on the warpath
warpath
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
on the warpath
From a Native American expression for war, to be “on the warpath” is to be exceedingly angry and to be inclined to take some hostile action: “Watch out! John is on the warpath today.”
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with on the warpath
on the warpath
Furious and on a hostile course of action, as in When the meat wasn't delivered, the chef went on the warpath. This expression was an English translation of a Native American term that literally means “a path used by a war party.” Go on the war path thus meant “go to battle.” It was used in this way by James Fenimore Cooper in The Deerslayer (1841); its present hyperbolic use dates from the late 1800s.
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warpath
see on the warpath.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.