war bonnet

noun

an American Indian headdress consisting of a headband with a tail of ornamental feathers.

Origin of war bonnet

First recorded in 1800–10

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for war bonnet

Historical Examples of war bonnet

One snatches off the war-bonnet, another the collar of bears' claws.
The Arrow-Maker
Mary Austin
This means a war-bonnet for my son-in-law—a story for coming generations!
Red Hunters And the Animal People
Charles A. Eastman
I asked him if they were all on horseback and he said that they were, that one of them wore a war-bonnet.
The Indians' Last Fight
Dennis Collins
There lives the eagle, whose feathers the Indian must have to make his war-bonnet.
Last of the Great Scouts
Helen Cody Wetmore
He wore the war-bonnet of the Sioux, and at his shoulder was a rifle, pointed at someone in the bottom below him.
An Autobiography of Buffalo Bill (Colonel W. F. Cody)
Buffalo Bill (William Frederick Cody)

British Dictionary definitions for war bonnet

war bonnet

noun

a headband with trailing feathers, worn by certain North American Indian warriors as a headdress

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