elephant

noun, often attributive el·e·phant \ ˈe-lə-fənt \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of elephant

plural elephants also elephant

1 a : a thickset, usually extremely large, nearly hairless, herbivorous mammal (family Elephantidae, the elephant family) that has a snout elongated into a muscular trunk and two incisors in the upper jaw developed especially in the male into long ivory tusks:

(1) : a tall, large-eared mammal (Loxodonta africana) of tropical Africa that is sometimes considered to comprise two separate species (L. africana of sub-Saharan savannas and L. cyclotis of central and western rain forests) — called also African elephant

(2) : a relatively small-eared mammal (Elephas maximus) of forests of southeastern Asia — called also Asian elephant, Indian elephant

b : any of various extinct relatives of the elephant — see mammoth, mastodon

2 : one that is uncommonly large or hard to manage

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Examples of elephant in a Sentence

by any standard, the new shopping mall will be an elephant and one that is certain to alter the retail landscape

Recent Examples of elephant from the Web

In commemoration, a one-time-only screening will be held nationwide of a movie about an elephant.

— susan dunne, courant.com, "Film About A Boy And His Elephant Gets Single Nationwide Screening," 7 Apr. 2018
Another shows Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric being gored by an elephant.

— lawrence specker, AL.com, "Actor Jim Carrey raising eyebrows with anti-Trump art," 1 Apr. 2018
First, North looked extremely happy after feeding an elephant.

— harper's bazaar staff, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Had The Greatest Day At The Zoo With Their Kids," 30 Mar. 2018
Then, North fed an elephant some nutritious greens.

— victoria rodriguez, Seventeen, "Kim Kardashian Took North West to the Zoo and the Pictures are Too Pure For Words," 30 Mar. 2018
But Richardson was the elephant in the (conference) room this week at the swanky Ritz-Carlton in this central Florida tourist town.

— joseph person, charlotteobserver, "NFL meetings got weird despite, and because of, absence of Panthers’ Jerry Richardson | Charlotte Observer," 28 Mar. 2018
The Cat in the Hat takes the audience into the Jungle of Nool where Horton, the kind-hearted elephant, discovers a speck of dust containing Whoville.

— annie alleman, Aurora Beacon-News, "Get out for family fun during spring break week," 14 Mar. 2018
Published by HarperCollins in 2011, the book centers on a silverback gorilla named Ivan (Rockwell) who lives in a cage in a shopping mall along with an elephant named Stella (Jolie) and a stray dog called Bob.

— borys kit, The Hollywood Reporter, "Bryan Cranston Joins Angelina Jolie in Disney's 'The One and Only Ivan' (Exclusive)," 1 Mar. 2018
Dumbo octopuses are recognized by their large eyes and round fins that resemble elephant ears.

— CBS News, "Scientists get first-ever footage of a dumbo octopus hatching," 20 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'elephant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of elephant

Origin and Etymology of elephant

Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French olifant, elefant, from L. elephantus, from Greek elephant-, elephas

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

elephant Synonyms

Other Mammals Terms

dormouse, dugong, gibbon, grimalkin, sable, stoat, ungulate, vole

Financial Definition of ELEPHANT

elephant

noun

What It Is

Elephants are large institutions that make big trades.

How It Works

CalPERS (the California Public Employees' Retirement System) is the nation's largest pension fund. More than 1.6 million people there are employees of public institutions such as schools and local governments. To ensure that the fund has enough money to make pension payments when employees retire, it invests that money in stocks, bonds, venture capital, real estate and a variety of other assets. In 2012, CalPERS had about $234 billion invested and another $3 billion in cash.

Accordingly, it can make some very large trades and has a lot of influence in the market. CalPERS can also be a source of capital for growing companies: It invested $34.2 billion in private equity in 2012.

Why It Matters

When elephants make trades, they are often large trades that can spike (or tank) the price of a stock or other security quickly. Elephants aren't just big influencers of the markets; they're big "gets" for brokerage firms, advisory firms, or any other financial institution that retains them as customers. After all, fees are often a percentage of trade size or asset size, and thus it's usually a big deal to "bag an elephant."

Source: Investing Answers