mammoth

[ mam-uh th ]

/ ˈmæm əθ /

SEE MORE 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.

Nearby words

mammography, mammon, mammonism, mammoplasty, mammose, mammoth, mammoth cave national park, mammotomy, mammotropic, mammula, mammy

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

SYNONYMS FOR mammoth

2 See gigantic.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mammoth ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mammoth

And then when you want something satisfying, splash out a few dollars for a mammoth cupcake.
The Cupcake Boom’s Sugar High Finally Crashes|Daniel Gross|July 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was absolutely mammoth—a mammoth task—and one that took an awful lot of preparation.
Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie on Brienne of Tarth’s Epic S4 Finale Showdown with The Hound|Marlow Stern|June 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The fact that a mammoth celebrity felt so threatened by the mere implication of male-on-male intimacy is undeniably interesting.
An Analysis of Vitalii Sediuk’s Pranks (He’s the Guy Who Touched Brad Pitt)|Amy Zimmerman|May 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mammoth locals did not wait to be asked by a president or a Veterans Affairs Administration official to act.
Homefront Veterans: Skiing With Wounded Warriors|John Kael Weston|February 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Kathy Copeland, an energetic Vermont native, arrived in Mammoth in the early 1970s and never left.
Homefront Veterans: Skiing With Wounded Warriors|John Kael Weston|February 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Nothing is more exciting than this following in the 133 track of a mammoth army whose tactics you cannot foresee.
The Pools of Silence|H. de Vere Stacpoole
Next is the Mammoth Cave, so called because of its vast chambers.
The Jenolan Caves|Samuel Cook
Close to the human bones lay the tusk and the shoulder-blade of a Mammoth.
Prehistoric Man|W. L. H. Duckworth
I say timidly, because it is correct; we did not care to have a mammoth respond to our calls.
In Search of the Unknown|Robert W. Chambers
We know him by the mammoth key he carries in his left hand, a symbol of his authority in spiritual concerns.
Van Dyck|Estelle M. Hurll

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

Science 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.