tomahawk

Meanings

Noun

• An ax used by Native American warriors.
• A dunk in which the person dunking the ball does so with his arm behind his head.
• A geometric construction consisting of a semicircle and two line segments that serves as a tool for trisecting an angle; so called from its resemblance to the American Indian axe.
• A field hockey shot style that involves a player turning their hockey stick upside-down and swinging it so that its inside edge will come into contact with the ball.

Verb

• To strike or cut up with a tomahawk.
• To girdle or incise the trees around (an area of land) so as to claim ownership of it.

Origin

• From an Algonquian word, most likely Powhatan tumahák; compare also Malecite-Passamaquoddy tomhikon, Abenaki temahigan, demahigan.