elephant ear

noun

a large, flat, sugared pastry somewhat resembling an elephant's ear in shape.

Origin of elephant ear

1905–10, for an earlier sense

elephant's-ear

[el-uh-fuh nts-eer]

noun

the taro.

Origin of elephant's-ear

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for elephant ear

Historical Examples of elephant ear

In the daytime individuals were found in the axils of leaves of the elephant-ear plants (Xanthosoma).
The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michoacn, Mxico
William E. Duellman
Smilisca baudini seeks daytime retreats in bromeliads, elephant-ear plants (Xanthosoma), and beneath bark or in holes in trees.
Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca
William E. Duellman
She wears a red- bordered sari, and stands near an elephant-ear plant.'
Autobiography of a YOGI
Paramhansa Yogananda

British Dictionary definitions for elephant ear

elephant's-ear

noun

any aroid plant of the genus Colocasia, of tropical Asia and Polynesia, having very large heart-shaped leaves: grown for ornament and for their edible tubersSee also taro
any of various cultivated begonias with large showy leaves

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