tusk

American  

[tuhsk] / tʌsk /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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verb

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

tusk Scientific  

/ tŭsk /

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.

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of tusk

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

Example Sentences

He’s heavier than the largest T. Rex ever unearthed, so huge that his magnificent tusks and skull had to be stored separately, in a back room.

From The Wall Street Journal

The researchers discerned patterns of meaning in lines, notches, dots, and crosses on objects like mammoth tusks as old as 45,000 years in caves in Germany.

From BBC

The boar’s tusks were as long as baseball bats and its fur an iridescent blue-black.

From Literature

In occasionally indelicate detail, “Tusker: Brotherhood of Elephants” studies the reproductive lives of Kenya’s rare “tuskers”—animals whose tusks weigh more than 100 pounds apiece, making them especially attractive to poachers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Famed for his long tusks, Craig the elephant was a major attraction at the park near the Tanzanian border.

From BBC

Related Words

• ivory