Nearby Words

mammoth

[mam-uhth] Example Sentences Origin

mam·moth

[mam-uhth]
noun
1.
any large, elephantlike mammal of the extinct genus Mammuthus, from the Pleistocene Epoch, having hairy skin and ridged molar teeth.
adjective
2.
immensely large; huge; enormous: a mammoth organization.

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Mammoth is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

Origin:
1690–1700; < Russian mam(m)ot (now mámont), first used in reference to remains of the animal found in Siberia; origin uncertain


2. See gigantic.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Example Sentences
  • If it has to be a mammoth conference, it had better be someplace nice.
  • On one side was a mammoth corporation, little loved on the left.
  • From micro shrimp to mammoth hippos, the planet's wetlands host miraculous diversity.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
mammoth (ˈmæməθ)
 
n
1.  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
 
adj
2.  of gigantic size or importance
 
[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 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

mammoth
1706, from Rus. mammot', probably from Ostyak (a Finno-Ugric language of northern Russia, cf. Finnish maa "earth"). Because the remains were dug from the earth, the animal was believed to root like a mole. The adj. is 1802 in Amer.Eng., in reference to the beasts' enormous size.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
mammoth   (mām'əth)  Pronunciation Key 
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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