Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Black Hawk

Black Hawk

3 7.5
A leader of the Sauk and Fox people who led warriors against the United States in 1832
  • proper noun
  • /blæk hɔk/
: Black Hawk
  • Black Hawk helicopter
  • Black Hawk Down
  • Black Hawk chopper

Examples

  • Snake Two to Black Hawk, get the hell out of there.

    Fire Birds (1990)

  • I tried to pull the Scorpion away from the Black Hawk, but to no use.

    Fire Birds (1990)

  • Between the two Cobras was a Black Hawk helicopter with a support team of American and South American DEA agents.

    Fire Birds (1990)

  • The Black Hawk began evasive action, but the Scorpion was too fast, heavily armed, and hard to find.

    Fire Birds (1990)

  • Most people don't know that Abraham Lincoln was a captain of the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War of 1832.

  • The U.S. military was able to get them a UH-60 Black Hawk, and they flew them directly off the island.

  • Jamar, 32, of Granbury, Texas, died April 2 when his Black Hawk helicopter crashed.

Surface Forms

Black Hawk main

Morphology

Black + hawk

This is a proper name referring to a historical Sauk leader, not a compositional phrase meaning 'a black-colored hawk'. Knowing 'black' and 'hawk' would not allow a B1 learner to infer the referent (a person and leader in the Black Hawk War), so the meaning is not derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

Black Hawk is the English form of his native name and uses the image of a black hawk, a bird that suggests strength. He was a 'Sauk' leader who led Sauk and Fox warriors in 1832, so Black Hawk now refers to that historical leader.