mammoth Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of numerous extinct elephants widely distributed in the Pleistocene; extremely large with hairy coats and long upcurved tusks
  2. adjective satellite so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant or mammoth
    gigantic.
    • a gigantic redwood
    • gigantic disappointment
    • a mammoth ship
    • a mammoth multinational corporation

WordNet

Mam"moth noun
Etymology
Russ. mâmont, mámant, fr. Tartar mamma the earth. Certain Tartar races, the Tungooses and Yakoots, believed that the mammoth worked its way in the earth like a mole.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) An extinct, hairy, maned elephant (Elephas primigenius), of enormous size, remains of which are found in the northern parts of both continents. The last of the race, in Europe, were coeval with prehistoric man. ✍ Several specimens have been found in Siberia preserved entire, with the flesh and hair remaining. They were imbedded in the ice cliffs at a remote period, and became exposed by the melting of the ice.
Mam"moth adjective
Definitions
  1. Resembling the mammoth in size; very large; gigantic; as, a mammoth ox.

Webster 1913