tusk

1 of 2

noun

ˈtəsk 

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

ˈtəskt 

adjective

tusklike

ˈtəsk-ˌlīk 

adjective

tusk

2 of 2

verb

tusked; tusking; tusks

transitive verb

: to dig up with a tusk

also : to gash with a tusk

Examples of tusk in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

There's also an electric variant of the saurian lizard-men, and a woolly cyclops with four tusks that uses a freeze-breath attack. — Gabriel Zamora, PC Magazine, 26 Aug. 2026

As the Danube waters shrank in Bulgaria, researchers were thrilled to find and recover a jawbone, tusks, a shoulder blade, ribs and other bone fragments belonging to an extinct woolly mammoth buried deep in the sand. — CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026

Verb

Many details have remained unknown about narwhals, the elusive tusked whales that dive in the icy waters of Canada’s High Arctic. — Uma Raja, Sun Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2025

These huge, tusked mammals roamed the Earth during the Pleistocene and early Holocene epochs, before disappearing roughly 4,000 years ago. — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, alteration of tux, from Old English tūx; akin to Old English tūsc tush

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1629, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing tusk

• tusk tenon

Rhymes for tusk

• brusque
• busk
• dusk
• husk
• musk

Kids Definition

tusk

1 of 2 noun

ˈtəsk 

1

: a very long large tooth (as of an elephant, walrus, or boar) that sticks out when the mouth is closed and is used especially for digging food or as a weapon

2

: a tooth-shaped part

tusked

ˈtəskt 

adjective

tusk

2 of 2 verb

: to dig up or gash with a tusk

Medical Definition

tusk

noun

ˈtəsk 

: 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