elephant
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary EnglishAnimalselephantel‧e‧phant /ˈeləfənt/ ●●● W3 noun [countable]1
HBAa very large grey animal with four legs, two tusks (=long curved teeth) and a trunk (=long nose) that it can use to pick things up2 → the elephant in the (living) room → white elephantExamples from the Corpuselephant• He rode on an elephant and on the Ferris wheel, taking only Amelia with him.• Each elephant is caparisoned in glittering gold, red, silver or blue cloth, studded with brilliants and lit with lamps.• Archaeologists divide the early inhabitants into elephant hunters and bison hunters.• The explosions started as soon as the last elephant had shuffled out of sight.• It looked like a place where the elephants came to die.• These countries are able to practise open trading because their elephant herds are now big enough to demand regular culling.Origin elephant (1200-1300) Old French oliphant, from Greek elephas “elephant, ivory”
HBAa very large grey animal with four legs, two tusks (=long curved teeth) and a trunk (=long nose) that it can use to pick things up2 → the elephant in the (living) room → white elephantExamples from the Corpuselephant• He rode on an elephant and on the Ferris wheel, taking only Amelia with him.• Each elephant is caparisoned in glittering gold, red, silver or blue cloth, studded with brilliants and lit with lamps.• Archaeologists divide the early inhabitants into elephant hunters and bison hunters.• The explosions started as soon as the last elephant had shuffled out of sight.• It looked like a place where the elephants came to die.• These countries are able to practise open trading because their elephant herds are now big enough to demand regular culling.Origin elephant (1200-1300) Old French oliphant, from Greek elephas “elephant, ivory”