elephant
Americannoun
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elephants,
plural
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elephant
plural
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a very large herbivorous mammal of the family Elephantidae, the only extant family of proboscideans and comprising the genera Loxodonta (African elephants ) and Elephas (Asian elephants ): Elephants of all species are characterized by a long, prehensile trunk formed of the nose and upper lip, pillarlike legs, and prominent tusks, which are possessed by both sexes of Loxodonta and just the males of Elephas.
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a representation of this animal, used in the United States since 1874 as the emblem of the Republican Party.
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Chiefly British. a size of drawing or writing paper, 23 × 28 inches (58 × 71 centimeters).
idioms
noun
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either of the two proboscidean mammals of the family Elephantidae . The African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) is the larger species, with large flapping ears and a less humped back than the Indian elephant ( Elephas maximus ), of S and SE Asia
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a size of writing paper, 23 by 28 inches
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an obvious truth deliberately ignored by all parties in a situation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of elephant
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (from Anglo-French ), from Latin elephantus, from Greek elephant- (stem of eléphās ) “elephant”; replacing Middle English olifaunt, from Anglo-French, from unattested Vulgar Latin olifantus, for Latin elephantus
Explanation
An elephant is an enormous, four-footed animal with big ears and a long trunk. By weight, elephants are the largest land-dwelling animals. The largest species of elephant, the African savanna elephant, weighs up to 14,000 pounds! African elephants usually have long, curved tusks; some male Asian elephants have tusks, but females do not. You can look at an elephants' ears to help distinguish between African and Asian elephants: African elephants have large, fan-shaped ears, while Asian elephants have smaller, more rounded ears. Elephants use their long trunks for grasping things, vocalizing, and sucking up water. These herbivores travel around foraging in large, tight-knit groups of females and their young. Adult males tend to be more solitary.
Vocabulary lists containing elephant
East Asia - Middle School
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East Asia - Introductory
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East Asia - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
BATURAJA, Indonesia—Marching down a dusty trail lined with elephant grass, First Lt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
He added: "There was an elephant in the room who wasn't there - the United States Air Force."
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Like the pink elephant you can’t stop imagining when testing yourself to not think about such a thing, VCs can’t shake the idea of the “Trilicorn.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
He is hired by the owner and ringmaster August Rosenbluth, but complications ensue when Jacob falls for August’s wife, Marlena, as they work together to train a stubborn elephant named Rosie for their star act.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
He reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a photograph of a man sitting on top of an elephant.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
The earliest scientific accounts of elephants practicing "self-medication" date back to the early third century.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
This newly published research suggests that the same elephants use several different plant species in the forest for medicinal purposes.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Accounts described elephants selecting particular plants when they seemed unwell, and mothers reportedly giving medicinal plant material to their calves.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
This is the conclusion of a study which interviewed people who live and work alongside the elephants in the Mount Elgon region of Kenya.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
His cry was answered by roars from Voldemort’s giants: They ran at Grawp like bull elephants, making the earth quake.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
