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🪓 A light axe 🥩 A ribeye steak 🪓 To cut with axe
tomahawk

tomahawk

18 9.6
A small axe used as a tool and a weapon by people of North America
  • noun
  • /ˈtɑːməˌhɔk/
translation icon : hacha
  • Magua starts toward Hawkeye, his tomahawk slipping into his hand.

I've got the Kiowa and I've got a tomahawk.

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Examples

  • I tried to chop him, but he dodged my tomahawk.

    Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

  • With an angry shout, the Apache brought her stone tomahawk down against the older woman's head.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • On his back, his tomahawk was within reach on the ground.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • These guys went to town with a tomahawk.

    Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

  • A few days ago, this tomahawk was on a ship with Garth.

    Unconquered (1947)

  • The Cheyenne seemed to prefer iron because their tomahawks were made of it.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Get out your tomahawks!

    The Night of the Iguana (1964)

  • Closer, Magua slid his tomahawk out from the front of his belt that girdles his waist.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Suddenly, Hurons en masse CRASH down onto the Redcoats' line with tomahawks, war clubs, and point-blank musket fire.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The Indigenous warrior skillfully threw his tomahawk at the target.

Synonyms

ax
vstomahawk
  • US
129 1.0

A tool with a heavy blade on a handle for chopping wood

is lighter and suits quick one-handed use as tool or weapon
hatchet
vstomahawk
57 3.8

A small axe with a short handle used with one hand to chop wood

is traditionally used by Indigenous peoples rather than a generic small tool

How Big

maul
21 7.5
ax
  • US
129 1.0
tomahawk
18 9.6
hatchet
57 3.8

Surface Forms

tomahawk singular
tomahawks plural

Etymology

Tomahawk comes from an Algonquian Native American word tamahak that meant 'to cut off' or 'to knock down'. So a tomahawk is a light axe used by Indigenous peoples as both a tool and a weapon.