Elongated, continuously growing teeth that project beyond the mouth in certain animals such as elephants, walruses, and wild boars. Tusks are used for digging, defense, fighting, and manipulation of objects.
From Old English 'tusc' meaning canine tooth, related to 'tusk' in other Germanic languages. The word originally referred to any protruding tooth but became specifically associated with large, prominent teeth by the 1400s.
Tusks are essentially super-sized teeth that never stop growing, with elephant tusks growing about 6 inches per year throughout the animal's life! These versatile tools serve as everything from weapons and digging implements to delicate instruments for stripping bark, and their growth rings can tell scientists about an elephant's entire life history.
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