Tonto
1 Americannoun
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a federally recognized tribe of Apache people of Arizona.
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the Apache language of a federally recognized tribe of Arizona.
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
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The pair devised an instrument they called Tonto, a 12-foot-long collection of synthesizer modules connected by cables—“the finest of Rube Goldberg machines.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
As proposed, the mine would turn Oak Flat — a long-preserved site of rocky outcroppings and desert waterways on the edge of the Tonto National Forest — into a nearly two-mile-wide, 1,000-foot-deep industrial crater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2025
The environmental analysis will have to be republished before a swap of the Tonto National Forest land can go forward.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 20, 2023
“Given current drought conditions and the ‘very high’ fire danger level, it is too risky for these activities,” said Taiga Rohrer, fire management officer for the Tonto National Forest.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 30, 2022
When The Lone Ranger came to television, she would watch it just to see Jay Silverheels, the actor who played Tonto.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
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Folk singers have crooned about it, politicians seeking a common touch take a sip when hunting for votes, and traditional ceremonies terminate at dusk with tonto parties.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024
This is partly because the retail price of tonto has been largely static over the decades, while the process of brewing it has become more cumbersome.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024
The event is so important in the family’s routine that they can’t imagine a time when there would no tonto to sell.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024
"I certainly think he has gone full tonto," Wallace said.
From Reuters ● Feb. 25, 2022
The granite, when it attains its highest point, is covered with a 200-foot layer of sedimentary rock called the tonto sandstone.
From Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico by Kolb, E. L. (Ellsworth Leonardson)
The Tontos jeered at them; their young braves taunted ours, and our young women were afraid.
From Tonio, Son of the Sierras A Story of the Apache War by Post, Charles J.
"And now Willett has lost his, and presumably the Tontos, or perhaps the Apache-Mohaves, have got it!"
From Tonio, Son of the Sierras A Story of the Apache War by Post, Charles J.
Strong scouting-parties had gone thitherward, too, for "the Chief" was bound to bring these Tontos to terms; but our orders were explicit: "Thoroughly scout the east face of the Matitzal."
From Starlight Ranch and Other Stories of Army Life on the Frontier by King, Charles
The renegades of northern Arizona in the earliest of the seventies were mainly Tontos, but many a young brave of the Apache Mohave tribe had cast his lot with them.
From Tonio, Son of the Sierras A Story of the Apache War by Post, Charles J.
The horses, too, delighted the Tontos, and, as Pike said, they would doubtless be occupied some little time with the division of the spoils, and longer in having a grand feast.
From Sunset Pass or Running the Gauntlet Through Apache Land by King, Charles
I started up, willing to observe whatever might be visible, or have the satisfaction of showing them what tontos they were.
From Mexico Its Ancient and Modern Civilisation, History, Political Conditions, Topography, Natural Resources, Industries and General Development by Hume, Martin
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.