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
Claire Thornton, USA TODAY, 28 June 2024
Overhunting species to the brink of collapse has plagued the island for centuries—so much so that historians now believe the overexploitation of walrus tusks (a source of ivory) led to the once mysterious abandonment of Greenland’s Norse colonies in the 15th century.
—Alexandra Owens, Robb Report, 27 June 2024
Pam Leblanc, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Jan. 2023
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
See all Example Sentences for tusk 
Noun
The genomes came from almost 400 DNA samples taken from mammoth bones, teeth, and tusks, including some that the team collected on a 2017 trip to Wrangel Island, Dalén said.
—Claire Thornton, USA TODAY, 28 June 2024
Overhunting species to the brink of collapse has plagued the island for centuries—so much so that historians now believe the overexploitation of walrus tusks (a source of ivory) led to the once mysterious abandonment of Greenland’s Norse colonies in the 15th century.
—Alexandra Owens, Robb Report, 27 June 2024
Verb
Mountain lions, tarantulas, snakes, and tusked pig-like creatures called javelina call the park home, too.
—Pam Leblanc, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Jan. 2023
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
See all Example Sentences for tusk
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Cite this Entry
“Tusk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tusk. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
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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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