DCHP-1 Online

mukluk mackaluck, mucklu(c)k [< West Esk. muklok large, or bearded, seal]

• 1 n. a type of warm knee-high boot worn by the Eskimos and Indians of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. [See picture at mukluk.]

  See also: Eskimo boot  kamik  snowshoe ((n.))  (def. 3)  

  • 1898  Her parkee, made of Caribou, it is a lovely fit./And she's all right from muck-a-luck unto her dainty mit./This lovely Klooch is fond of Hooch, and makes it very well.
  • 1909  In cabin or dance-hall, camp or dive, mucklucks or patent shoon;/On velvet tundra or virgin peak, by glacier, drift or draw. . . .
  • 1924  She still wore her trail muckluks of fur, clumsy looking as a squaw's sacking. . . .
  • 1931  For cold, dry weather the best mukluks have reindeer skin tops; for wet weather they are, both tops and soles, of sealskin, tanned especially so that they will turn water.
  • 1947  These mukluks are usually of seal soles, and uppers of the same material in the summer months, or moose, caribou, or even canvas for winter.
  • 1958  Sealskin mukluks, or boots, or sometimes the Indian's mukluks of duffel with moosehide soles, complete the ensemble.
  • 1966  I went back into the house [and] donned my hunting pants, Eskimo mukluks (with handy drawstrings) and a sweater.

• 2 n. any of several kinds of winter footwear resembling this original boot, such as those worn by Canadian soldiers on winter exercises and those styled by manufacturers for city wear.

  • 1961  [Caption] Bank clerk Jean Sauve, like most Whitehorse folk, finds nothing beats native parka and mukluks for warmth.
  • 1964  The group set out, clad in . . . nylon wind pants, mukluks, light parkas and camouflage suits.
  • 1966  . . . the Canadians' [soldiers'] mukluks and sleeping bags were superior to anything in use. The mukluk, a rubber-soled boot with a calf-high outer nylon cover, has a thick woollen inner boot that keeps feet warm in the coldest of weather.

• 3 n. Figurative use.

  • 1963  Edmontonians finally have an answer to Calgary's Stampede. It is called Muk-Luk Mardi Gras.
  • 1964  Organizers couldn't get a mukluk in the door to form branches or national groups.