nanook

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Inuktitut ᓇᓄᖅ (nanoq, “polar bear”).

Noun

nanook (plural nanooks)

1. (Alaska) A polar bear.
   • 1935, Armstrong Sperry, One Day with Tuktu: An Eskimo Boy:

     Let's build a nanook. A big one. Almost as big as a real one!

   • 1967, North - Volumes 14-15, page 52:

     "I have a way with nanooks," Mazwuk explained, hoping that none would notice the tremor in his voice, […]

   • 2001, Dana Stabenow, The Singing of the Dead, →ISBN, page 110:

     She dressed: white T-shirt, black jeans, blue sweatshirt with the gold UAF nanook on the front, white anklets, black-and-white Nike tennis shoes.

   • 2008, Briton Hadden, Henry Robinson Luce, Time - Volume 172, page 102:

     Promising in her Inaugural Address to protect the state like a "nanook defending her cub," she has continued to play down social issues as governor.

Anagrams

• kanoon