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tusk . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
tusk , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
tusk in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
tusk you have here. The definition of the word
tusk will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
tusk , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Walruses with tusks.
Men with elephant tusks.
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English tusk (also tux , tusch ), from Old English tūx , tūsc ( “ canine tooth, tusk, molar ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *tų̄sk , *tunsk , from Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz ( “ canine tooth ” ) , extended form of *tanþs ( “ tooth ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts ( “ tooth ” ) . Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tusk ( “ tooth ” ) , West Frisian tosk ( “ tooth ” ) , Icelandic toskur ( “ a tusk, tooth ” ) (whence the Old Norse and Icelandic Ratatoskr and Ratatoskur respectively), Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌿𐍃 ( tunþus , “ tooth ” ) and *𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹 ( *tundi , “ thorn, tooth ” ) . Doublet of tush . More at tooth .
Noun
tusk (plural tusks )
One of a pair of elongated pointed teeth that extend outside the mouth of an animal such as walrus , elephant or wild boar , and which continue to grow throughout the animal's life.
Until the CITES sales ban, elephant tusks were the 'backbone' of the legal ivory trade.
A small projection on a (tusk) tenon .
A tusk shell .
( carpentry ) A projecting member like a tenon , and serving the same or a similar purpose, but composed of several steps , or offsets , called teeth .[ 1]
A sharp point .
The share of a plough .
Derived terms
Translations
pointed tooth
Arabic: نَاب (ar) m ( nāb )
Egyptian Arabic: ناب m ( nab )
Armenian: ժանիք (hy) ( žanikʻ )
Azerbaijani: xillə
Belarusian: бі́вень m ( bívjenʹ )
Bengali: গজদন্ত (bn) ( gojodonto )
Bulgarian: би́вник (bg) m ( bívnik ) , би́вен m ( bíven )
Burmese: စွယ် (my) ( cwai ) , ဆင်စွယ် (my) ( hcangcwai )
Catalan: ullal (ca) m
Chichewa: mnyanga ( of an elephant )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 長牙 / 长牙 (zh) ( chángyá ) , 牙 (zh) ( yá )
Czech: kel (cs) m
Danish: stødtand (da) c
Dupaningan Agta: paseng
Dutch: slagtand (nl) m , stoottand (nl) m
Egyptian: (jbḥ )
Esperanto: dentego , tusko , pikdento
Estonian: kihv
Finnish: syöksyhammas (fi)
French: défense (fr) f ( elephant, walrus ) ; dague (fr) f ( wild boar )
Galician: cabeiro (gl) m , cairo (gl) m , queiro m , dentequeiro m
German: Stoßzahn (de) m ( elephant, walrus ) ; Hauer (de) m ( wild boar )
Greek: χαυλιόδοντας (el) m ( chavliódontas )
Ancient: στόρθυγξ m or f ( stórthunx )
Hebrew: חָט (he) m ( khat ) , חטים ( khatím )
Hindi: खाँग (hi) m ( khāṅg ) , गजदंत (hi) m ( gajdant ) ( elephant's )
Hungarian: agyar (hu)
Italian: zanna (it) f
Japanese: 牙 (ja) ( きば, kiba ) , 象牙 (ja) ( ぞうげ, zōge ) ( elephant's )
Khmer: ខ្នាយ (km) ( khnaay ) , ទន្ត (km) ( tŏən ) , ទាឋា (km) ( tiəthaa ) ( canine ) , ភ្លុក (km) ( phluk )
Korean: 엄니 ( eomni ) , 송곳니 (ko) ( songgonni )
Lao: ງາ ( ngā ) , ແງ ( ngǣ ) , ທັນຕາ ( than tā ) , ໜາຍ ( nāi ) ( of a she-elephant )
Macedonian: бивна f ( bivna )
Malay: ( elephant's ) gading (ms) , taring (ms) ( boar's )
Malayalam: ( elephant's ) കൊമ്പ് (ml) ( kompŭ ) , തേറ്റ (ml) ( tēṟṟa ) ( boar's )
Maori: reiputa
Mongolian: соёо (mn) ( sojoo )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: støttann m or f , støyttann m or f
Nynorsk: støyttann f
Old English: tūsc m
Persian: یشک (fa) ( yašk )
Polish: cios (pl) m , kieł (pl) m ( colloquial )
Portuguese: presa (pt) f
Punjabi: ਡੰਦ ( ḍand )
Romanian: colț (ro) m , fildeș (ro) m
Russian: би́вень (ru) m ( bívenʹ ) (elephant's) , клык m (walrus', boar's)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: кљо̑ва f
Roman: kljȏva (sh) f
Sicilian: denti (scn) m pl , prisa f , canini m pl
Slovak: kel m
Slovene: okel (sl) m
Spanish: colmillo (es) m
Swahili: pembe (sw) sg (elephant's) , upamba pl (boar's)
Swedish: bete (sv) c
Tagalog: salimao , pangil
Tamil: தந்தம் (ta) ( tantam ) , கொம்பு (ta) ( kompu )
Telugu: దంతము (te) ( dantamu )
Thai: งา (th) ( ngaa ) , ทนต์ (th) ( ton )
Tibetan: མཆེ་བ ( mche ba )
Tocharian B: ānkär
Ukrainian: би́вень (uk) m ( bývenʹ )
Vietnamese: ngà (vi)
Welsh: ysgithr m
West Frisian: slachttosk
Yoruba: eyín erin (elephant's)
Verb
tusk (third-person singular simple present tusks , present participle tusking , simple past and past participle tusked )
To dig up using a tusk, as boars do.
To gore with the tusks.
( obsolete ) To bare or gnash the teeth .
References
Douglas Harper (2001–2025 ) “tusk ”, in Online Etymology Dictionary .
Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary , Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium .)
Noun
tusk (plural tusks )
A fish, the torsk (Brosme brosme ).
Kashubian
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium .)
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈtusk/
Rhymes: -usk
Syllabification: tusk
Noun
tusk m animal
dog
Further reading
Witold Taszycki (2000-2001 ) Onomastica , volume 45 , Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich
Zdzisława Stiebera, editor (1964 ), Atlas językowy kaszubszczyzny i dialektów sąsiednich , Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich
Ludian
Etymology
Related to Finnish tuska . Ultimately from Russian тоска́ ( toská , “ melancholy ” ) .
Noun
tusk
pain
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English tūx , from earlier tūsc , from Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz . Compare tusshe .
Pronunciation
Noun
tusk (plural tuskes )
A tusk ( protruding long tooth )
Any long and sharp tooth.
( rare ) The end of a spear.
Derived terms
Descendants
References
Old Frisian
Etymology
Cognate with Old English tūsc .
Noun
tusk m
tooth
Inflection
Descendants
Veps
Etymology
Borrowed from Old East Slavic тъска ( tŭska ) (compare Russian тоска́ ( toská , “ melancholy ” ) ).
Noun
tusk
depression , melancholy , grief , suffering
Declension