/euh pach"ee/ , n. , pl. Apaches , ( esp. collectively ) Apache .
1. a member of an Athabaskan people of the southwestern U.S.
2. any of the several Athabaskan languages of Arizona and the Rio Grande basin.
3. Mil. 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.
[ 1915-20; a·pacu Navajos, presumably applied formerly to the Apacheans (Navajos and Apaches) generally ]