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mammoth

[ mam-uhth ]
/ ˈmæm əθ /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR mammoth ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any large, elephantlike mammal of the extinct genus Mammuthus, from the Pleistocene Epoch, having hairy skin and ridged molar teeth.

adjective

immensely large; huge; enormous: a mammoth organization.

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Origin of mammoth

1690–1700; <Russian mam(m)ot (now mámont ), first used in reference to remains of the animal found in Siberia; origin uncertain

synonym study for mammoth

2. See gigantic.

Words nearby mammoth

mammography, mammon, mammonism, mammoplasty, mammose, mammoth, Mammoth Cave National Park, mammoth jack, mammotomy, mammotropic, mammula
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to mammoth

enormous, colossal, monstrous, vast, large, immense, monumental, massive, prodigious, gigantic, gargantuan, high, giant, leviathan, elephantine, jumbo, long, mighty, mountainous, stupendous

Example sentences from the Web for mammoth

British Dictionary definitions for mammoth

mammoth
/ (ˈmæməθ) /

noun

any large extinct elephant of the Pleistocene genus Mammuthus (or Elephas), such as M. primigenius (woolly mammoth), having a hairy coat and long curved tusks

adjective

of gigantic size or importance

Word Origin for mammoth

C18: from Russian mamot, from Tatar mamont, perhaps from mamma earth, because of a belief that the animal made burrows
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

Scientific definitions for mammoth

mammoth
[ măm′əth ]

Any of various extinct elephants of the genus Mammuthus, having long, upwardly curving tusks and thick hair. Mammoths grew to great size and lived throughout the Northern Hemisphere during the Ice Age.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.