desert elephant

American

[dez-ert el-uh-fuhnt] / ˈdɛz ərt ˌɛl ə fənt /

noun

an African bush elephant that inhabits the Namib and Sahara deserts, formerly classified as a subspecies but now identified fully with the Loxodonta africana species: the principal difference between desert elephants and other African bush elephants is habitat.

Etymology

Origin of desert elephant

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

desert elephant

And when we did see the elephants in the Namibian episode in the desert elephant episode in particular, there was such a sense of celebration that we had.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2023

No one had seen a desert elephant in the park in years.

From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2019

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