Oliphant

American

[ol-uh-fuhnt] / ˈɒl ə fənt /

noun

Margaret Wilson, 1828–97, Scottish novelist.

Oliphant British

/ ˈɒlɪfənt /

noun

Sir Mark Laurence Elwin. 1901–2000, British nuclear physicist, born in Australia

"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

Example Sentences

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Oliphant

So, aptly, does Gail Honeyman’s creation Eleanor Oliphant, a social misfit with a traumatic past.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Many years ago, when I was a newbie newspaper reporter in the Boston Globe’s Washington bureau, one of my colleagues, Tom Oliphant, gave me a tip that I’ve cherished ever since.

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

Retiree Pattie Oliphant bemoaned the “sad state of affairs” for Carney, his family and the office of mayor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

Oliphant and Gerstenzang are former Times staff writers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025

Mark Oliphant developed a method of converting the water to gas with virtually no loss, allowing the lab to recycle the precious supply over and over again.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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