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mahout

American

[muh-hout] / məˈhaʊt /

noun

the keeper or driver of an elephant, especially in India and the East Indies.

mahout British

/ məˈhaʊt /

noun

(in India and the East Indies) an elephant driver or keeper

"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 mahout

1655–65; < Hindi mahāut, variant of mahāvat; compare Prakrit mahāmatta, Sanskrit mahāmatra elephant driver

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.

Perera, who oversees his care, along with a mahout and other staff, said he would probably need hydrotherapy facilities that Sri Lanka lacks to restore full movement.

From Reuters • Jun. 21, 2023

If he charged I could shoot, if he took no notice of me it would be safe to leave him until the mahout came back.

From The Guardian • Mar. 18, 2017

Riding a double-decker bus makes you feel like an urban mahout.

From Washington Post • Jul. 9, 2015

Other tracks feature traditional Thai melodies, in which each elephant plays a note of the scale at a cue from a mahout.

From BBC • Nov. 13, 2013

There was something diabolical about the mahout, and every time I looked up I found him grinning at me in an attitude of cheerful malice.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

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