tusk

[tuhsk]

noun

1. (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.

2. a long, pointed, or protruding tooth.

3. a projection resembling the tusk of an animal.

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

verb (used with object)

1. to dig up or tear off with the tusks.

2. to gore with a tusk.

verb (used without object)

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

tusk

/ tʌsk /

noun

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

2. the canine tooth of certain animals, esp horses

3. a sharp pointed projection

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

verb

1. to stab, tear, or gore with the tusks

tusk

1. 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.

Other Word Forms

• tusked adjective
• tusklike adjective
• tuskless adjective
• untusked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tusk¹

before 900; Middle English, metathetic variant of tux, Old English, variant of tusc tush ²; cognate with Old Frisian tusk; akin to tooth

Word History and Origins

Origin of tusk¹

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

Example Sentences

Another explorer, Martin Nweeia, a dental surgeon, discovered that a narwhal’s tusk, whose purpose was a mystery to scientists, is actually a sensory rod that helps it measure salinity, temperature and water pressure.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The elephant that was given the beer is big in size, with long tusks - one in particular is distinctive as it is damaged.

Read more on BBC

Archaeologists say it was fashioned from a mammoth's tusk with an astonishing level of skill.

Read more on BBC

And they have tiny, mostly useless little eyes, no ears, and a pair of huge incisors like a mastodon's tusks.

Read more on Salon

They include figurines, tusks, sculptures of Benin's rulers, and an ivory mask.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• ivory