tusk

[tuhsk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tusk ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

(in certain animals) a tooth developed to great length, usually one of a pair, as in the elephant, walrus, and wild boar, but singly in the narwhal.

a long, pointed, or protruding tooth.

a projection resembling the tusk of an animal.

Also called gain. Carpentry. a diagonally cut shoulder at the end of a timber for strengthening a tenon.

verb (used with object)

to dig up or tear off with the tusks.

to gore with a tusk.

verb (used without object)

to dig up or thrust at the ground with the tusks.

Origin of tusk

before 900; Middle English, metathetic variant of tux, Old English, variant of tusc tush²; cognate with Old Frisian tusk; akin to tooth

Related formstusk·less, adjectivetusk·like, adjectiveun·tusked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tusk

ivory, tush, canine, tooth, incisor, fang

Examples from the Web for tusk

Contemporary Examples of tusk

In the film world, it was really Kevin Smith who brought Osment back into the fold with Tusk.
Gone Guy: The Return of Haley Joel Osment
Marlow Stern
October 29, 2014
Johnny Depp has a pretty sizeable role in Tusk as the Montreal private eye Guy LaPointe.
Kevin Smith's Marijuanaissance: On 'Tusk,' 'Falling Out' with Ben Affleck, and 20 Years of 'Clerks'
Marlow Stern
September 9, 2014
The first sequence of the show was set to "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac.
‘The Americans’ Showrunners Dissect the Secrets of Season 2
Andrew Romano
February 27, 2014
As a patron of Tusk Trust, a conservation charity, Williamtravelled to Botswana in 2010 to raise awareness of the issue.
Charles, William and Tyke Launch Fresh Anti-Poaching Campaign
Tom Sykes
May 21, 2013
The film aims to raise awareness and funds for Tusk Trust, a UK-based conservation charity, of which Prince William is patron.
William and Kate Out and About as First Anniversary Approaches
Tom Sykes
April 25, 2012

Historical Examples of tusk

When the balance was swung true, he tried to lift a tusk into the scale.
Tales of Unrest
Joseph Conrad
How I should like to see the enormous rat that could have carried such a tusk!
The Rambles of a Rat
A. L. O. E.
Like lightning the hog threw him and then ripped him with his tusk.
Old Rail Fence Corners
Various
As for his face, all tusk and jaw and no brow, where had Parr gotten such an idea of it?
The Devil's Asteroid
Manly Wade Wellman
Tusk underlies its cloth empurpled by juice of the dye-shell.
The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus
Caius Valerius Catullus

British Dictionary definitions for tusk

tusk

noun

a pointed elongated usually paired tooth in the elephant, walrus, and certain other mammals that is often used for fighting

the canine tooth of certain animals, esp horses

a sharp pointed projection

Also called: tusk tenon building trades a tenon shaped with an additional oblique shoulder to make a stronger joint

verb

to stab, tear, or gore with the tusks

Derived Formstusked, adjectivetusklike, adjective

Word Origin for tusk

Old English tūsc; related to Old Frisian tosk; see tooth

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 tusk

Old English tux, tusc, cognate with Old Frisian tusk, probably from Proto-Germanic *tunthskaz (cf. Gothic tunþus "tooth"), extended form of the root of tooth. But there are no certain cognates outside Anglo-Frisian.

tusk in Science

tusk

[tŭsk]

A long, pointed tooth, usually one of a pair, projecting from the mouth of certain animals, such as elephants, walruses, and wild pigs. Tusks are used for procuring food and as weapons.