panga

[ pahng-guh ]

/ ˈpɑŋ gə /

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noun

a large, broad-bladed African knife used as a weapon or as an implement for cutting heavy jungle growth, sugarcane, etc.; machete.

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Origin of panga

Borrowed into English from Swahili around 1930–35

Words nearby panga

panfish, pan-fried potatoes, pan-fry, panful, pang, panga, Pangaea, pangender, pangenesis, Pan-Germanism, Pang-fou

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use panga in a sentence

The Panga ya Saidi burial is a major breakthrough for understanding how early populations in Africa treated their dead, allowing us to start situating these behaviors alongside what we know about how culture developed in other regions.
A Cave Site in Kenya’s Forests Reveals the Oldest Human Burial in Africa|Alison Crowther|May 28, 2021|Singularity Hub
Every porter had a red blanket, and practically every one wore a panga.
Cupid in Africa|P. C. Wren
The only provocation we suffered was from the attacks of the tsetse, or panga (sword) fly, which swarmed here.
How I Found Livingstone|Henry M. Stanley
The officers, including the Commander, also waited stiffly at attention while the fisherman tied his panga to the ship's ladder.
Secret Armies|John L. Spivak

Rhododendron minus recommenced after leaving the river towards Panga, a straggling cedar or two occurred, Populus rotundifol.
Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The|William Griffith
Cham na cham mig tu panga auc onan moquiz cham to gai ha cua che nag omreina li vi hiche ca noc yb heg g y vi au qui g topanga.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 3|Hubert Howe Bancroft

British Dictionary definitions for panga

panga

/ (ˈpæŋɡə) /

noun

a broad heavy knife of E Africa, used as a tool or weapon

US a small fishing boat first developed in Japan and now used chiefly in US and Central American waters

Word Origin for panga

from a native E African word. The panga boat is so called because it resembles the knife in shape

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