chinook

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Chi·nook

(shĭ-no͝ok′, chĭ-)

n. pl. Chinook or Chi·nooks

a. A member of a Native American people formerly inhabiting the lower Columbia River valley and adjoining coastal regions of Washington and Oregon, now located in western Washington. The Chinook traded widely throughout the Pacific Northwest.

b. The Chinookan language of the Chinook.

2. A member of any of several Chinookan-speaking peoples formerly inhabiting the Columbia River valley eastward to The Dalles and now located in southern Washington and northern Oregon.

[Chehalis (Salishan language of western Washington) c'inúk.]

chi·nook

(shĭ-no͝ok′, chĭ-)

1. A moist warm wind blowing from the sea in coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest.

2. A warm dry wind that descends from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, causing a rapid rise in temperature.

3. A Chinook salmon.

[After the Chinook.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

chinook

(tʃɪˈnuːk; -ˈnʊk)

1. (Physical Geography) Also called: snow eater a warm dry southwesterly wind blowing down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains

2. (Physical Geography) Also called: wet chinook a warm moist wind blowing onto the Washington and Oregon coasts from the sea

[C19: from Salish c'inuk]

Chinook

(tʃɪˈnuːk; -ˈnʊk)

npl -nook or -nooks

1. (Peoples) a Native American people of the Pacific coast near the Columbia River

2. (Languages) the language of this people, probably forming a separate branch of the Penutian phylum

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Chi•nook

(ʃɪˈnʊk, -ˈnuk, tʃɪ-)

n., pl. -nooks, (esp. collectively) -nook.

a. a member of an American Indian people aboriginally inhabiting the N shore of the mouth of the Columbia River.

b. a member of any of a group of peoples including the Chinook of the Columbia River mouth and related peoples to the S and W.

c. either of two languages spoken by these peoples, one, now extinct, spoken on both sides of the Columbia estuary (Lower Chinook) and the other spoken W of the estuary (Upper Chinook).

2. (l.c.) a warm, dry wind that blows at intervals down the E slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Chi•nook′an, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	chinook - a warm dry wind blowing down the eastern slopes of the Rockies chinook wind, snow eater air current, current of air, wind - air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure; "trees bent under the fierce winds"; "when there is no wind, row"; "the radioactivity was being swept upwards by the air current and out into the atmosphere"
	2.	Chinook - a member of an important North American Indian people who controlled the mouth of the Columbia river; they were organized into settlements rather than tribes Penutian - a member of a North American Indian people speaking one of the Penutian languages
	3.	chinook - pink or white flesh of large Pacific salmon chinook salmon, king salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, quinnat salmon, chinook salmon, king salmon, chinook - large Pacific salmon valued as food; adults die after spawning salmon - flesh of any of various marine or freshwater fish of the family Salmonidae
	4.	Chinook - a Penutian language spoken by the Chinook Chinookan Penutian - a family of Amerindian language spoken in the great interior valley of California
	5.	chinook - large Pacific salmon valued as food; adults die after spawning Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, quinnat salmon, chinook salmon, king salmon salmon - any of various large food and game fishes of northern waters; usually migrate from salt to fresh water to spawn genus Oncorhynchus, Oncorhynchus - Pacific salmon including sockeye salmon; chinook salmon; chum salmon; coho salmon chinook salmon, king salmon, chinook - pink or white flesh of large Pacific salmon

References in classic literature ?

Immediately within this cape is a wide, open bay, terminating at Chinook Point, so called from a neighboring tribe of Indians.

The natives inhabiting the lower part of the river, and with whom the company was likely to have the most frequent intercourse, were divided at this time into four tribes, the Chinooks, Clatsops, Wahkiacums, and Cathlamahs.

After a day thus profitably spent, they recrossed the river, but landed on the northern shore several miles above the anchoring ground of the Tonquin, in the neighborhood of Chinooks, and visited the village of that tribe.

A singular custom prevails, not merely among the Chinooks, but among most of the tribes about this part of the coast, which is the flattening of the forehead.

With this worthy tribe of Chinooks the two partners passed a part of the day very agreeably.

When the weather had moderated and the sea became tranquil, the one-eyed chief of the Chinooks manned his state canoe, and conducted his guests in safety to the ship, where they were welcomed with joy, for apprehensions had been felt for their safety.

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For twenty-four hours the Chinook wind blew, and in that twenty-four hours the snow was diminished fully a foot in depth.

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