wam·pum

(wŏm′pəm, wôm′-)

1. Small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into strings or belts, formerly used by certain Native American peoples as currency and jewelry or for ceremonial exchanges between groups. Also called peag.

2. Informal Money.

[Short for wampumpeag.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

wampum

(ˈwɒmpəm)

1. (Anthropology & Ethnology) (formerly) money used by North American Indians, made of cylindrical shells strung or woven together, esp white shells rather than the more valuable black or purple ones

2. (Currencies) (formerly) money used by North American Indians, made of cylindrical shells strung or woven together, esp white shells rather than the more valuable black or purple ones

3. (Banking & Finance) informal US and Canadian money or wealth

Also called: wampumpeag, peag or peage

[C17: short for wampumpeag, from Narraganset wampompeag, from wampan light + api string + -ag plural suffix]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

wam•pum

(ˈwɒm pəm, ˈwɔm-)

n.

1. cylindrical beads made from shells, pierced and strung, used by North American Indians as a medium of exchange, for ornaments, and for ceremonial and spiritual purposes.

2. Informal. money.

[1630–40; short for wampumpeag]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	wampum - informal terms for money boodle, clams, dinero, gelt, kale, lettuce, lolly, lucre, moolah, pelf, shekels, simoleons, loot, dough, bread, cabbage, sugar, scratch money - the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender; "we tried to collect the money he owed us"
	2.	wampum - small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into strings or belts; used by certain Native American peoples as jewelry or currency peag, wampumpeag beads, string of beads - several beads threaded together on a string

wampum

noun

Informal. Something, such as coins or printed bills, used as a medium of exchange:

cash, currency, lucre, money.

Slang: bread, cabbage, dough, gelt, green, jack, lettuce, long green, mazuma, moola, scratch.

Chiefly British: brass.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

He also bore a knife in a girdle of wampum, like that which confined the scanty garments of the Indian, but no tomahawk.

Now, Uncas," he continued, in a half whisper, and laughing with a kind of inward sound, like one who had learned to be watchful, "I will bet my charger three times full of powder, against a foot of wampum, that I take him atwixt the eyes, and nearer to the right than to the left."

View in context

The Indians had a sort of money, called wampum, which was made of clam-shells; and this strange sort of specie was likewise taken in payment of debts by the English settlers.

View in context

The men, especially, who in savage life carry a passion for personal decoration further than the females, did not think their gala equipments complete unless they had a jewel of hiaqua, or wampum, dangling at the nose.

View in context

By his side a noble figure, but still a counterfeit, appeared an Indian hunter, with feathery crest and wampum belt.

View in context

Let the bow, and tomahawk, and pipe, and the wampum of Mohegan he laid in his grave; for when he starts 'twil be in the night, like a warrior on a war-party, and he can not stop to seek them.”

View in context

Mahtoree assured himself of the right position of his tomahawk, felt that his knife was secure in its sheath of skin, tightened his girdle of wampum and saw that the lacing of his fringed and ornamental leggings was secure, and likely to offer no impediment to his exertions.

View in context

The chief value of the new fact is to enhance the great and constant fact of Life, which can dwarf any and every circumstance, and to which the belt of wampum and the commerce of America are alike.

View in context

Wampum, a surf-and-skate shop, will be opening its third location at the 1232 Surf Avenue property.

Nets gain for Coney Island: Thor Equities

However, when Gorrell met his Native counterparts, he freely gave them wampum belts and sufficient presents to satisfy their expectations.

A solitary strike: the attack at Michilimackinac

Tribal hostility, personal power struggles, and the control of wampum were factors in the conflict.

From furs and wampum to slot machines and megadollars

Thanks to the goodwill built up through Short's years with "Saturday Night Live" and the SCTV troupe, station buyers are curious enough to take a gamble -- but not for the big wampum they shelled out last year to secure "The Roseanne Show," also from King World.

Syndie scene developing without talk