Illustration of elephant
- 1 African
- 2 Asian
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elephant
noun
el·e·phant
ˈe-lə-fənt 
plural elephants also elephant
often attributive
Synonyms of elephant
1
a
: a thickset, usually extremely large, nearly hairless, herbivorous mammal (family Elephantidae, the elephant family) that has a snout elongated into a muscular trunk and two incisors in the upper jaw developed especially in the male into long ivory tusks:
(1)
: a tall, large-eared mammal (Loxodonta africana) of tropical Africa that is sometimes considered to comprise two separate species (L. africana of sub-Saharan savannas and L. cyclotis of central and western rainforests)
called also African elephant
(2)
: a relatively small-eared mammal (Elephas maximus) of forests of southeastern Asia
called also Asian elephant, Indian elephant
b
: any of various extinct relatives of the elephant see mammoth, mastodon
2
: one that is uncommonly large or hard to manage see also elephant in the room
Synonyms
- behemoth
- blockbuster
- colossus
- dinosaur
- dreadnought
- giant
- Goliath
- jumbo
- leviathan
- mammoth
- mastodon
- monster
- titan
- whale
- whopper
See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 
Examples of elephant in a Sentence
by any standard, the new shopping mall will be an elephant and one that is certain to alter the retail landscape
Recent Examples on the Web
For instance, scientists with the Revive & Restore project have proposed using gene manipulation to create elephants that have the heavy coats of woolly mammoths.
—
Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Oct. 2024
Common understanding shrinks elephants, Hawkins says.
—Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024
The following month, Zimbabwe authorized the slaughter of 200 elephants.
—Laura Paddison, CNN, 12 Oct. 2024
On my most recent trip, I was enchanted by the sight of elephants bathing and frolicking in the river.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 10 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for elephant 
Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Oct. 2024
Common understanding shrinks elephants, Hawkins says.
—Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024
The following month, Zimbabwe authorized the slaughter of 200 elephants.
—Laura Paddison, CNN, 12 Oct. 2024
On my most recent trip, I was enchanted by the sight of elephants bathing and frolicking in the river.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 10 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for elephant
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'elephant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Dictionary Entries Near elephant
elepaio
elephant
elephant's ear
See More Nearby Entries 
Cite this Entry
“Elephant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elephant. Accessed 21 Oct. 2024.
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Kids Definition
elephant
noun
el·e·phant
ˈel-ə-fənt
: any of a family of huge thickset nearly hairless mammals that have the snout lengthened into a trunk and two incisors in the upper jaw developed into long outward-curving pointed ivory tusks and that include two living forms:
a
: one with large ears that occurs in tropical Africa
b
: one with relatively small ears that occurs in forests of southeastern Asia
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