mammoth

[ mam-uhth ]
See synonyms for: mammothmammoths on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. any large, elephantlike mammal of the extinct genus Mammuthus, from the Pleistocene Epoch, having hairy skin and ridged molar teeth.

adjective
  1. immensely large; huge; enormous: a mammoth organization.

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Origin of mammoth

1
1690–1700; <Russian mam(m)ot (now mámont ), first used in reference to remains of the animal found in Siberia; origin uncertain

synonym study For mammoth

2. See gigantic.

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British Dictionary definitions for mammoth

mammoth

/ (ˈmæməθ) /


noun
  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

adjective
  1. of gigantic size or importance

Origin of mammoth

1
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 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for mammoth

mammoth

[ măməth ]


  1. 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 © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.