Chinook

noun

Chi·​nook shə-ˈnu̇k  -ˈnük 

chə-

plural Chinook or Chinooks

1

: a member of an Indigenous people of the north shore of the Columbia River at its mouth

2

: a Chinookan language of the Chinook and other nearby peoples

3

or less commonly chinook

a

: a warm moist southwest wind of the coast from Oregon northward

b

: a warm dry wind that descends the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains

4

or less commonly chinook plural chinook also chinooks : chinook salmon

5

: any of a rare breed of large, muscular dogs that were developed in New Hampshire in the early 1900s as sled and working dogs and have a yellow, reddish-yellow, or yellowish-brown coat and calm temperament

Among the dogs he [Arthur Treadwell Walden] used for breeding the Chinook were descendants of Admiral Peary's Greenland expedition huskies, along with mastiff-types.

—John Nolan

Examples of Chinook in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The review concluded that while that number may appear high, Black Hawks account for the fewest deadly incidents relative to hours flown in the Army's fleet and are involved in far fewer fatal incidents than other helicopters, including the AH-64 Apache and the CH-47 Chinook. —Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 31 Jan. 2025

Fish including the delta smelt, Chinook salmon and giant sturgeon are threatened with extinction. —Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2025

Pumping to supply farms and cities has contributed to the ecological degradation of the Delta, where the fish species that are listed as threatened or endangered include steelhead trout, two types of Chinook salmon, longfin smelt, delta smelt and green sturgeon. —Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2025

Other Chinook have fared so badly in recent years that the state’s salmon fishery has had to close for the last two years. —Heather Knight, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Lower Chehalis (Salishan language of western Washington) c̓inúk, name of a Chinook village

First Known Use

1795, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing Chinook

• Chinook jargon
• Chinook salmon

Kids Definition

Chinook

noun

Chi·​nook shə-ˈnu̇k  chə- 

plural Chinook or Chinooks

: a member of an Indigenous people of Oregon

also : their language