jumbo
Use Jumbo in a sentence
boʊ noun
1.
a very large person, animal, or thing.
2.
3.
U.S. Nautical.
a.
a forestaysail having a boom (jumbo boom) along its foot, used especially on schooners.
b.
a sail used in place of a course on a square-rigged ship, having the form of an isosceles triangle set apex downward.
c.
a narrow triangular sail set point downward in place of a foresail on a topsail schooner.
adjective
4.
very large: the jumbo box of cereal.
Origin:
1800–10; origin uncertain; popularized as the name of a large elephant purchased and exhibited by P.T. Barnum in 1882
1800–10; origin uncertain; popularized as the name of a large elephant purchased and exhibited by P.T. Barnum in 1882
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To jumbo
00:10
Jumbo
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
jumbo (ˈdʒʌmbəʊ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl -bos | |
| 1. | informal |
| a. a very large person or thing | |
| b. (as modifier): a jumbo box of detergent | |
| 2. | See jumbo jet |
| [C19: after the name of a famous elephant exhibited by P. T. Barnum, from Swahili jumbe chief] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
jumbo
"very large," 1897, Amer.Eng., in ref. to Jumbo, name of the London Zoo's huge elephant, sold Feb. 1882 to U.S. circus showman P.T. Barnum. The name is probably from slang jumbo "clumsy, unwieldy fellow" (1823), which itself is possibly from a word for "elephant" in a W.African language (cf. Kongo nzamba).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The jumbo batteries would then power motors, which would drive counter-rotating propellers at the plane's tail end.
In the meantime, other business trends seem to be pushing executives back into their jumbo jets.
Watch this incredible footage of a jumbo jet being struck by lightning.
But we're not going to criticize the penmanship involved in writing with a jumbo jet.
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