elephant

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

Updated on: 26 Jul 2017

Definition of elephant

plural

elephants

also

elephant

1a : 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 elephantb : 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

And then there was the arrest of the Moranos in 2016 for the illegal sale of ivory — 126 items, including intricate carvings and uncarved elephant tusks.

— charles v. bagli, New York Times, "A Holdout Delays a Developer’s Latest High-Rise Dream", 4 July 2017
The tables had African lanterns, wooden elephants, and floral arrangements of roses and poppies.

— trulia, Teen Vogue, "Beyoncé, JAY Z, Blue Ivy, and the Twins Have a New Home", 26 June 2017
If ribs aren't your thing, there are plenty of alternatives: from cheeseburgers and corn dogs to veggie wraps and turkey legs, along with the usual fair fare like elephant ears and lemon shake-ups.

— annie alleman, Naperville Sun, "Ribfest is back with Toby Keith, B-52s", 22 June 2017
In addition to the musical acts, food and drinks also will be abundant in the form of funnel cakes, elephant ears, corn dogs, steak dinners, a pancake and sausage breakfast, beer garden, and more.

— bob kostanczuk, Post-Tribune, "Cedar Lake Summerfest keeps the party going June 30-July 4", 21 June 2017
The contoured-and-highlighted elephant in the room is obviously Kylie Cosmetics, the powerhouse beauty brand launched by Kardashian West's half-sister Kylie Jenner.

— jenna rosenstein, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kim Kardashian On How KKW Beauty Will Be Different From Kylie Cosmetics", 20 June 2017
The proportion of elephants in the Tsavo area that died from poaching dropped by 11 percent in 2016, according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

— Washington Post, "US war veteran now fighting to save Africa’s elephants", 8 June 2017
Derek Coleman is a strapping, bright guy of 27 with a woodsman’s beard who recently returned from going to see the elephant.

— fred dickey, sandiegouniontribune.com, "One man's idea of adventure? Volunteering to help Kurds fight ISIS in Iraq", 8 June 2017
Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis.

— darren naish, Scientific American Blog Network, "Incredible Elephant Seals, Part 1", 3 June 2017

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!

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

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