1. A native North American woman or wife, the term is now thought to be quite offensive: "The book Tom read about the Indians back in the 1700s showed him that squaws were a very important part of tribal life and not at all a degradation of their importance."

"Tim called Nancy, his wife, a squaw many times, giving her additional reasons to divorce him."

2. Etymology: from Massachsett of Algonquian origin squa, "younger woman".