elephant grass

noun

Definition of elephant grass

1 : an Old World cattail (Typha elephantina) used especially in making baskets

2 : napier grass

Recent Examples of elephant grass from the Web

The promises of JFK’s New Frontier and LBJ’s Great Society seemed irretrievably lost in the humid jungles and sharp elephant grass of Southeast Asia.

— jon meacham, Time, "50 Years After 1968, We Are Still Living In Its Shadow," 18 Jan. 2018
How easily could a farmer be persuaded to stop growing food and start cultivating elephant grass or willow trees?

— sara miller llana, The Christian Science Monitor, "After the pledge: Scientists scramble to make politicians' climate goals a reality," 12 Dec. 2017

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