1
: an elongated greatly enlarged tooth (as of an elephant or walrus) that projects when the mouth is closed and serves especially for digging food or as a weapon
broadly
: a long protruding tooth
2
: one of the small projections on a tusk tenon
tusked; tusking; tusks
: to dig up with a tusk
also
: to gash with a tusk
Examples of tusk in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 28 Mar. 2024
Using a variety of materials—including wood, bronze, animal bones and the ivory tusk of an African warthog—the team created replicas of the Hohle Fels baton and tried their hand at using them for rope-making.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024
Craig’s gargantuan tusks swooped low, and his hide seemed to glow with a rich reddish dust that set him apart from the other males trooping nearby.
—Paul Brady, Travel + Leisure, 23 Mar. 2024
One photo, which shows symmetrical white marks around the deer’s nose and mouth, gives the impression of protruding teeth that resemble the tusks of a Chinese water deer.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 7 Mar. 2024
Miners unearthed the tusk in May, according to a December announcement from the North Dakota Department of Natural Resources.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Jan. 2024
The geneticists also want to engineer a mammoth with no tusks, so the animals don’t fall prey to poachers.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 9 Mar. 2024
Ultimately, the researchers want to edit elephant DNA to incorporate traits that allowed mammoths to survive the cold, like shaggy hair, curved tusks and fat deposits.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2024
Yet that one tusk has enabled scientists to uncover remarkable details about her life.
—Jeanne Timmons, Ars Technica, 18 Jan. 2024
Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 17 Oct. 2023
Sulawesi is home to species found nowhere else, including vibrant hornbills, miniature water buffalo, tusked deer-pigs and some tarsiers, a small, nocturnal primate.
—Ian Morse, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Nov. 2019
Noun
Rhino populations in Kenya have been threatened for decades due to poaching and trade of rhino tusks, which contain keratin.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 28 Mar. 2024
Using a variety of materials—including wood, bronze, animal bones and the ivory tusk of an African warthog—the team created replicas of the Hohle Fels baton and tried their hand at using them for rope-making.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024
Craig’s gargantuan tusks swooped low, and his hide seemed to glow with a rich reddish dust that set him apart from the other males trooping nearby.
—Paul Brady, Travel + Leisure, 23 Mar. 2024
One photo, which shows symmetrical white marks around the deer’s nose and mouth, gives the impression of protruding teeth that resemble the tusks of a Chinese water deer.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 7 Mar. 2024
Miners unearthed the tusk in May, according to a December announcement from the North Dakota Department of Natural Resources.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Jan. 2024
The geneticists also want to engineer a mammoth with no tusks, so the animals don’t fall prey to poachers.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 9 Mar. 2024
Ultimately, the researchers want to edit elephant DNA to incorporate traits that allowed mammoths to survive the cold, like shaggy hair, curved tusks and fat deposits.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2024
Yet that one tusk has enabled scientists to uncover remarkable details about her life.
—Jeanne Timmons, Ars Technica, 18 Jan. 2024
Verb
But those aren't even the loudest sounds that are associated with the big, tusked beasts.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 17 Oct. 2023
Sulawesi is home to species found nowhere else, including vibrant hornbills, miniature water buffalo, tusked deer-pigs and some tarsiers, a small, nocturnal primate.
—Ian Morse, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Nov. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tusk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Tusk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tusk. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
tusk
noun
: an elongated greatly enlarged tooth that projects when the mouth is closed and serves for digging food or as a weapon
broadly
: a long protruding tooth
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