Synonyms

howdah

American

[hou-duh] / ˈhaʊ də /

Or houdah

noun

(in the East Indies) a seat or platform for one or more persons, commonly with a railing and a canopy, placed on the back of an elephant.

howdah British

/ ˈhaʊdə /

noun

a seat for riding on an elephant's back, esp one with a canopy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of howdah

1765–75; < Hindi haudah < Arabic hawdaj

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Elmer is a sort of Howdah Doody, but he is also only a bag of cloth until somebody gets inside to manipulate him into action.

From Time Magazine Archive

He would also occasionally break off branches of trees that were in the way of the Howdah, to enable me to pass.

From The Book of Enterprise and Adventure Being an Excitement to Reading. for Young People. a New and Condensed Edition. by Anonymous

Howdah, Houdah, how′da, n. a seat fixed on an elephant's back.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023