mastodon
a massive, elephantlike mammal of the genus Mammut (Mastodon), that flourished worldwide from the Miocene through the Pleistocene epochs and, in North America, into recent times, having long, curved upper tusks and, in the male, short lower tusks.
a person of immense size, power, influence, etc.
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Origin of mastodon
1Other words from mastodon
- mas·to·don·ic, adjective
Words Nearby mastodon
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use mastodon in a sentence
You see, there’s no way for your posts to reach every mastodon server unless someone on each one follows you or republishes your post.
For the last two years at least, people have been creating accounts on mastodon, Pillowfort, and a host of others.
I made it big on Twitter. Now I don’t think I can stay. | Mikki Kendall | October 28, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewOn this partial map of North America, gold dots designate sites regarded by some researchers as displaying clear evidence of human hunting or scavenging of mammoths and other big game, mostly mastodons.
Clovis hunters’ reputation as mammoth killers takes a hit | Bruce Bower | January 11, 2022 | Science NewsThey say the site, which covers hundreds of acres, is home to hundreds and possibly thousands of fossils, including specimens from long-extinct species like mastodons and giant camels.
‘Giant treasure trove’ of fossils may give a better picture of Miocene epoch about 10 million years ago | Erin Blakemore | May 30, 2021 | Washington PostFor instance, one previously unearthed mastodon limb bone was shattered into several hundred pieces, consistent with the effects of heavy trucks frequently rumbling overhead, Haynes says.
Two stones fuel debate over when America’s first settlers arrived | Bruce Bower | December 4, 2020 | Science News
It has already abandoned the mastodon Arctic Shtokman field.
Hydraulic Fracking's Putting the Screws to Vladimir and Friends | Justin Green | September 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe mastodon skeleton which is now preserved in Field Museum in Chicago was found upon his farm.
Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, Vol. 2 (of 2) | William Denison LymanWoe to the nation by whom such feelings are classed with the age of the mammoth and the mastodon!
The skeleton of a huge mastodon was found here this winter by some men digging a ditch.
Harper's Young People, April 19, 1881 | VariousLying among the ruins was a gigantic mastodon in excellent preservation, which Mr. Roosevelt brought down on his shoulders.
Mr. Badolet likewise purchased the well preserved lower jaw of a mastodon, which was found in the White River.
British Dictionary definitions for mastodon
/ (ˈmæstəˌdɒn) /
any extinct elephant-like proboscidean mammal of the genus Mammut (or Mastodon), common in Pliocene times
Origin of mastodon
1Derived forms of mastodon
- mastodontic, adjective
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 mastodon
[ măs′tə-dŏn′ ]
Any of several extinct mammals of the genus Mastodon (or Mammut). Mastodons resembled elephants and mammoths except that their molar teeth had conelike cusps rather than parallel ridges for grinding. Like elephants, mastodons had a pair of long, curved tusks growing from their upper jaw, but males also sometimes had a second pair from the lower jaw. Like mammoths, mastodons were covered with hair. They lived from the Oligocene Epoch to the end of the Ice Age.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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