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 whales rely on fish — preferably Chinook salmon — and live in three pods called J, K and L. The southern residents have been in the spotlight of conservation efforts for decades. —Evan Bush, NBC News, 4 Dec. 2024

Water temperatures rose as the river slowed through the summer, and in September, Chinook salmon returning to spawn began to die, littering the banks with as many as 70,000 carcasses. —Jeff Moag, Outside Online, 3 Dec. 2024

Coho and especially Chinook salmon stocks spiked this year in Vancouver Island and its inlets, according to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, after years of downturn. —Jules Struck, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Dec. 2024

Drumming made the floor vibrate and singing filled the conference room of the Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City, on the Oregon coast, as hundreds in tribal regalia danced in a circle. —Claire Rush, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024

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