Chinook
Americannoun
plural
Chinooks,plural
Chinook-
a member of a formerly numerous North American Indian people originally inhabiting the northern shore of the mouth of the Columbia River and the adjacent territory.
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either of the two languages of the Chinook Indians.
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(lowercase) a warm, dry wind that blows at intervals down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
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(lowercase) chinook salmon.
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a U.S. Army cargo helicopter in service since 1962 and capable of ferrying 12 tons of supplies and troops.
noun
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a Native American people of the Pacific coast near the Columbia River
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the language of this people, probably forming a separate branch of the Penutian phylum
noun
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Also called: snow eater. a warm dry southwesterly wind blowing down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
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Also called: wet chinook. a warm moist wind blowing onto the Washington and Oregon coasts from the sea
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A moist, warm wind blowing from the sea in coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest.
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A warm, dry wind descending from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, causing a rapid rise in temperature. These winds often melt snow quite rapidly, at times at a rate of up to a foot per hour.
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See also foehn
Etymology
Origin of chinook
C19: from Salish c`inuk
Explanation
A chinook is a very big fish, a type of salmon that's found in the Pacific Ocean. Chinooks are also known as "king salmon." In addition to the giant salmon that's commonly fished from Alaska to California, the word chinook is also used for a particular type of wind. This meteorological chinook is a warm, dry wind that blows down from a mountain range during the end of the winter season. Both types of chinook are named for the Chinook people, a Pacific Northwest indigenous group.
Vocabulary lists containing chinook
Amazing Animals, A-Z
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Amazing Animals, List 3
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List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The fall-run Chinook population, however, remains much smaller than it was in the early 2000s.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026
Federal scientists call the Sacramento River’s winter-run Chinook salmon “one of the most at-risk endangered species.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026
We’re not like the Chinook salmon that seek out upriver spawning zones or feline species that go into heat each spring and summer.
From Salon • Dec. 19, 2025
A twin-prop Chinook helicopter shatters the calm of the Dutch countryside, hovering just metres from a canal before dumping four huge sandbags into the water: welcome to Operation Cloudburst.
From Barron's • Nov. 7, 2025
“Yes. Some are federally recognized—the Suquamish, the Tulalip, the Muckleshoot. Others aren’t—the Duwamish, the Chinook, the Snohomish.”
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
