ELEPHANT

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Five-toed pachyderm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("elephant" is a kind of...):

pachyderm (any of various nonruminant hoofed mammals having very thick skin: elephant; rhinoceros; hippopotamus)

proboscidean; proboscidian (massive herbivorous mammals having tusks and a long trunk)

Meronyms (parts of "elephant"):

tusk (a long pointed tooth specialized for fighting or digging; especially in an elephant or walrus or hog)

proboscis; trunk (a long flexible snout as of an elephant)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "elephant"):

rogue elephant (a wild and vicious elephant separated from the herd)

Elephas maximus; Indian elephant (Asian elephant having smaller ears and tusks primarily in the male)

African elephant; Loxodonta africana (an elephant native to Africa having enormous flapping ears and ivory tusks)

mammoth (any of numerous extinct elephants widely distributed in the Pleistocene; extremely large with hairy coats and long upcurved tusks)

gomphothere (extinct elephants of Central American and South America; of the Miocene and Pleistocene)

Holonyms ("elephant" is a member of...):

Elephantidae; family Elephantidae (elephants)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The symbol of the Republican Party; introduced in cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1874

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("elephant" is a kind of...):

allegory; emblem (a visible symbol representing an abstract idea)

Credits

Context examples:

The elephant has long been an important spiritual, cultural and national symbol in Thailand.

(Overhunting of large animals has catastrophic effects on trees, NSF)

The study in the journal PLOS Biology lists what the authors say are the world's 10 most charismatic animals: tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes, leopards, pandas, cheetahs, polar bears, gray wolves and gorillas.

(Study: Popularity of Wildlife Can Harm Public's Perception, VOA)

The paper contains the first reconstructions of ancient relatives of elephants and large apex predators such as sharks, crocodilians and sea snakes.

(Ancient Saharan seaway illustrates how Earth’s climate and creatures can undergo extreme change, National Science Foundation)

"We lost 98 percent of the wildebeest population, 75 percent of the zebra population and 30 percent of the elephant population," said Susan Alberts, a biologist at Duke University.

(Born during a drought: Bad news for baboons, NSF)

I walked with intrepidity five or six times before the very head of the cat, and came within half a yard of her; whereupon she drew herself back, as if she were more afraid of me: I had less apprehension concerning the dogs, whereof three or four came into the room, as it is usual in farmers’ houses; one of which was a mastiff, equal in bulk to four elephants, and another a greyhound, somewhat taller than the mastiff, but not so large.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

"I wonder," I said reflectively, "what an elephant's soul is like!"

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

McConkey tracked how often animals visited the trees and ate the fruit, including elephants, bears, monkeys, gibbons and Sambar deer.

(Thai Elephants Help Spread Jungle Fruit's Seeds, Sadie Witkowski/VOA)

There were tigers and elephants and bears and wolves and foxes and all the others in the natural history, and for a moment Dorothy was afraid.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

“This is my little elephant, sir,” said Mr. Omer, fondling the child.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"I'm going out to get some little matters for my girls. Can I do anything for you, young ladies?" asked Mrs. Moffat, lumbering in like an elephant in silk and lace.