mahout

ma·hout | \ mə-ˈhau̇t

How to pronounce mahout (audio)

\

Definition of mahout

: a keeper and driver of an elephant

Examples of mahout in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Jongjiangam is a mahout—an elephant caretaker and trainer. — Kirsten Luce, National Geographic, "In this Thai village, life revolves around 300 captive elephants," 29 Oct. 2019 But not everyone mahout in Ban Ta Klang has the privilege of inheritance. — Kirsten Luce, National Geographic, "In this Thai village, life revolves around 300 captive elephants," 29 Oct. 2019 Shell meets Indian mahouts—or elephant keepers—and the animals themselves, which have unique personalities and striking intelligence. — Andrea Gawrylewski, Scientific American, "An Intimate Portrait of Asian Elephants, A Case for Math-Driven Physics, and Other New Science Books," 1 June 2019 Most of these elephants, who are old and weak, are also sometimes beaten mercilessly by drunk mahouts. — Sangeeta Tanwar, Quartz India, "This elephant-obsessed Indian state is finally stepping in to protect abused captive animals," 13 June 2019 Burmese mahouts are becoming younger and are rotating elephants rather than developing long-term bonds. — Rafil Kroll-zaidi, Harper's magazine, "Findings," 10 May 2019 In elephant polo, the player is positioned on the animal's back, while the mahout sits close to its head. — Ross Kenneth Urken, Town & Country, "Meet the Only All-Female Team at Bangkok’s Storied Elephant Polo Tournament," 6 Apr. 2018 Nelson, a gentle giant named after a prominent local palm oil executive, has a tusk-sized hole in his ear from when a wild male elephant attacked him during one of the clearance operations, making him something of a hero to the squadron’s mahouts. — Jon Emont, New York Times, "Wildlife Detectives Pursue the Case of Dwindling Elephants in Indonesia," 11 Jan. 2018 Directed by his mahout, Rambahadur started to whack the cat with its trunk in an attempt to shoo it back towards the reserve. — The Economist, "A tiger’s taleWhat an Indian tiger’s bid for freedom says about humans and nature," 20 Dec. 2017

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about mahout

Dictionary Entries near mahout

Statistics for mahout

Last Updated

5 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Mahout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mahout. Accessed 25 Feb. 2020.

WORD OF THE DAY

dissemble

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

More Confusing Words—Quiz

The magician ______ moved the selected card to the top of the deck.

discretely discreetly

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.