apache

[ uh-pahsh, uh-pash; French a-pash ]
/ əˈpɑʃ, əˈpæʃ; French aˈpaʃ /

noun, plural a·paches [uh-pah-shiz, uh-pash-iz; French a-pash] /əˈpɑ ʃɪz, əˈpæʃ ɪz; French aˈpaʃ/.

a Parisian gangster, rowdy, or ruffian.

Origin of apache

1735–45, Americanism; < French: Apache

Words nearby apache

ap star, ap-, ap., apa, apace, apache, apache dance, apache plume, apachean, apaches, apalachee bay

Definition for apache (2 of 2)

Apache
[ uh-pach-ee ]
/ əˈpætʃ i /

noun, plural A·pach·es, (especially collectively) A·pach·e.

a member of an Athabaskan people of the southwestern U.S.
any of the several Athabaskan languages of Arizona and the Rio Grande basin.
Military. a two-man U.S. Army helicopter designed to attack enemy armor with rockets or a 30mm gun and equipped for use in bad weather and in darkness.

Origin of Apache

1915–20; < Mexican Spanish, perhaps < Zuni ʔa·paču Navajos, presumably applied formerly to the Apacheans (Navajos and Apaches) generally

Example sentences from the Web for apache

British Dictionary definitions for apache (1 of 2)

apache
/ (əˈpɑːʃ, -ˈpæʃ, French apaʃ) /

noun

a Parisian gangster or ruffian

Word Origin for apache

from French: Apache

British Dictionary definitions for apache (2 of 2)

Apache
/ (əˈpætʃɪ) /

noun

plural Apaches or Apache a member of a North American Indian people, formerly nomadic and warlike, inhabiting the southwestern US and N Mexico
the language of this people, belonging to the Athapascan group of the Na-Dene phylum

Word Origin for Apache

from Mexican Spanish, probably from Zuñi Apachu, literally: enemy