nounelephant, elephants

• 1A very large plant-eating mammal with a prehensile trunk, long curved ivory tusks, and large ears, native to Africa and southern Asia. It is the largest living land animal.

  Family Elephantidae, order Proboscidea: two species. See African elephant, Indian elephant

  ‘The sale of new ivory was banned in 1989 to curb the slaughter of elephants in Africa.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘They will visit Nairobi Nursery, where the smallest orphaned elephants and rhinos are kept.’
  • ‘On watching the footage, you start to believe that elephants may indeed be as intelligent as the great apes.’
  • ‘We forbid the sale of goods made from endangered species such as elephants and rhino.’
  • ‘Animals such as elephants also use infrasound to communicate over long distances or as weapons to repel foes.’
  • ‘His notoriety first spread as the poacher of wild elephants for their precious tusks.’
  • ‘The zoo is really cool and we saw all the favourites the best of which were lemurs, elephants and the zebras of course.’
  • ‘Living with elephants and giraffes, and seeing lions hunt and kill, was fantastic.’
  • ‘Tigers, elephants and a few others animals still roam there and along the borders.’
  • ‘If we announced that we were in the market for fresh ivory, of course that would encourage the poaching of elephants.’
  • ‘She loved the elephants and spent a good ten minutes pointing and making elephant noises.’
  • ‘There were grazing giraffes, ostriches and above all, these wonderful elephants.’
  • ‘You used to get lions and tigers and seals with ball skills and elephants giving slow rides to juggling monkeys.’
  • ‘The good news is that mice can scare elephants, and that happens from time to time.’
  • ‘Towards the end of the Miocene, modern cats and the first elephants arrived on the scene.’
  • ‘What about tigers, elephants and ducks listening to a chorus of frogs singing happily?’
  • ‘Herds of elephants stroll past as lions hide in bushes eyeing up a feast of zebras.’
  • ‘He referred to past incidents involving elephants that have created bad publicity.’
  • ‘The narrative starts with the violent death of the young elephant's mother.’
  • ‘Last July, the Berkeley Museum of Art at the University of California hosted an exhibit of elephant art.’

• 2A size of paper, typically 28 × 23 inches (approximately 711 × 584 mm).

  More example sentences

  • ‘Further, if we recall the great size of a typical elephant, the figure of Coryate is out of scale, much too large.’