tusk
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tusk¹
- /ˈtʌsk/ US, UK
- /ˈtʊsk/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌsk
Where it comes from
From Middle English tusk (also tux, tusch), from Old English tūsc, tūx (“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 tusks
- One of a pair of elongated pointed teeth (either cuspids or incisors) 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.
- A projecting member like a tenon, and serving the same or a similar purpose, but composed of several steps, or offsets, called teeth.
- A sharp point.
- The share of a plough.
verb tusks · tusking · tusked
- To dig up using a tusk, as boars do.
- To gore with the tusks.
- To bare or gnash the teeth.
tusk²
- /ˈtʌsk/ US, UK
- /ˈtʊsk/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌsk
noun tusks
-
An edible fish, Brosme brosme.
Similar: torsk, cusk, more at cusk
Tusk³
- /ˈtuːsk/
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Polish Tusk, from Kashubian Tuzk, a variant of Tuzek.
proper noun
- A male surname from Kashubian
Translations
Every language
noun pointed tooth
| Español | colmillo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 엄니 eomni, 송곳니 songgonni |
| 日本語 | 牙 kiba, 象牙 zōge |
| 中文 | 長牙 /长牙 chángyá, 牙 yá |
| हिन्दी | खाँग khāṅg, गजदंत gajdant |
| Kiswahili | pembe, upamba |
| Português | presa |
| Français | défense, dague |
| Deutsch | Stoßzahn, Hauer |
| Italiano | zanna |
| Ελληνικά | χαυλιόδοντας chavliódontas |
| Română | colț, fildeș |
| Русский | би́вень bívenʹ, клык |
| Tiếng Việt | ngà |
| العربية | نَاب nāb |
| עברית | חָט khat, חטים khatím |
Talk about this word "tusk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tusk. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tusk. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tusk "tusk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tusk.Cite this
@misc{tusk_2026,
title = {tusk},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tusk},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
