How to Use tusk in a Sentence

tusk

1 of 2 noun
Definition of tusknext
  • The last four inches of the study mammoth’s tusk, at the tooth’s wide base, record the end of the mammoth’s life.
    — Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Aug. 2021
  • Hidden in the tusk of a 34-year-old mastodon was a record of time and space that cracked the mystery of his life.
    — Peter Brannen, The Atlantic, 22 June 2022
  • The Lystrosaurus was herbivorous, about the size of a pig, with small tusks and a kind of beak.
    — Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023
  • The ‘Kik’ mammoth tusk used in this project is part of the collection.
    — Sara Harrison, Wired, 12 Aug. 2021
  • There were no obvious signs of tusks on the side-scan sonar.
    — Curbed, 18 Jan. 2023
  • As the permafrost thaws and riverbanks erode, more tusks will emerge.
    — oregonlive, 5 Oct. 2019
  • In that incident, the men sought tusk ivory that can be carved and sold as art.
    — Alex Demarban, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2018
  • The one species, the narwhal, is an Arctic whale known for its huge nine-foot tusk.
    — Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 14 Oct. 2020
  • The warthog is stout and powerful and has a face-full of tusks, after all.
    — Terry Demio, Cincinnati.com, 30 May 2019
  • The scientists cut open one of his eight-foot-long tusks with a huge band saw.
    — Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2024
  • In its top jaw, the skull featured what looked to be a narwhal tusk, though nowhere near as long.
    — Roni Dengler, Discover Magazine, 20 June 2019
  • Rhino horns don’t grow like the antlers of a deer (made of bone) or the tusks of an elephant (giant teeth).
    — Wired, 19 Nov. 2019
  • The tusk is believed to belong to a steppe mammoth from before the last ice age.
    — Brittany Kasko, Fox News, 15 July 2023
  • The tusk had been found and recovered in just under two hours.
    — New York Times, 22 Nov. 2021
  • The babirusa has a set of upper tusks that grow up through the top of its face and has a second set of tusks on the lower jaw.
    — Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 4 Jan. 2024
  • Elephant herds were tracked there and hunted for their tusks.
    — Anu Kumar, Quartz India, 26 July 2019
  • Another touches the tusk and says the elephant feels like a spear.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2021
  • Also shown are some of the sampling locations along the middle of the tusk.
    — Sara Harrison, Wired, 12 Aug. 2021
  • Experts believe a rival mastodon tusk punctured the right side of his skull and killed the mastodon.
    — Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2022
  • The tusk came from a male mammoth who lived to be about 28 years old during the last ice age in what is now Alaska.
    — Esther Megbel, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2021
  • Fisher cut a long, thin section from the center of the 9.5-foot-long (3-meter-long) right tusk.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 13 June 2022
  • And low-ranking Wynona, who was missing her left tusk, had her two-year-old calf Lucy in tow.
    — Caitlin O'Connell, Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2021
  • It has now been confirmed that the tusk, which measures more than three feet in length, is from a Columbian mammoth.
    — Catherine Garcia, The Week, 23 Nov. 2021
  • The elephant ran a tusk through his leg, narrowly missing the femoral artery.
    — Margalit Fox, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2020
  • Each blind man feels a different part of the elephant, but only one part, like the trunk, side, or tusk.
    — Tony Gambill, Forbes, 12 Oct. 2021
  • Or perhaps a narwhal uses its tusk to flush out prey on the ocean bottom.
    — Matt Simon, Wired, 1 Apr. 2021
  • The large scoop of an electric shovel dug the tusk out of the earth and dropped it into a truck, which later dumped the load, revealing the tusk.
    — Jack Dura, Twin Cities, 8 Jan. 2024
  • The team recognized Nemo, a young male with a modest thirty-two-inch tusk, first caught in 2014.
    — Marguerite Holloway, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2021
  • 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
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tusk

2 of 2 verb
  • He also was ordered to transfer the elephant’s tusks back to the Zimbabwean government.
    — Washington Post, 22 May 2018
  • In fact, last July Hong Kong authorities seized 7.2 tons of elephant tusks hidden under a shipment of frozen fish from Malaysia, the largest ivory bust.
    — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 2 Feb. 2018
  • My planet also has live, feathered, beaky skeletons flying through the environment, and big, heavy creatures that are tusked and trunked and have sad, long memories and wash their bodies in cold mud puddles and know who their babies are.
    — Jenny Slate, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2019
  • 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
  • Now American Airlines is telling passengers some of their service and emotional support animals — including goats, hedgehogs and tusked creatures — can’t fly.
    — Lauren Zumbach, chicagotribune.com, 14 May 2018
  • He also was ordered to transfer the elephant’s tusks back to the Zimbabwean government.
    — Washington Post, 22 May 2018
  • In fact, last July Hong Kong authorities seized 7.2 tons of elephant tusks hidden under a shipment of frozen fish from Malaysia, the largest ivory bust.
    — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 2 Feb. 2018
  • My planet also has live, feathered, beaky skeletons flying through the environment, and big, heavy creatures that are tusked and trunked and have sad, long memories and wash their bodies in cold mud puddles and know who their babies are.
    — Jenny Slate, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2019
  • 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
  • Now American Airlines is telling passengers some of their service and emotional support animals — including goats, hedgehogs and tusked creatures — can’t fly.
    — Lauren Zumbach, chicagotribune.com, 14 May 2018

Some of 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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