mammoth

[ mam-uhth ]

noun

1. any large, elephantlike mammal of the extinct genus Mammuthus, from the Pleistocene Epoch, having hairy skin and ridged molar teeth.

adjective

1. immensely large; huge; enormous:

   a mammoth organization.

mammoth

/ ˈmæməθ /

noun

1. any large extinct elephant of the Pleistocene genus Mammuthus (or Elephas ), such as M. primigenius ( woolly mammoth ), having a hairy coat and long curved tusks

adjective

1. of gigantic size or importance

mammoth

/ măm′əth /

1. Any of various extinct elephants of the genus Mammuthus, having long, upwardly curving tusks and thick hair. Mammoths grew to great size and lived throughout the Northern Hemisphere during the Ice Age.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mammoth¹

1690–1700; < Russian mam(m)ot (now mámont ), first used in reference to remains of the animal found in Siberia; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of mammoth¹

C18: from Russian mamot, from Tatar mamont, perhaps from mamma earth, because of a belief that the animal made burrows

Synonym Study

See gigantic.

Example Sentences

Didion would go on to write “The White Album,” her classic 1979 collection of essays, and move to New York before publishing two memoirs — 2005’s “The Year of Magical Thinking” and 2011’s “Blue Nights” — that became mammoth bestsellers.

From Los Angeles Times

A mammoth ninth game saw the British number two create 10 opportunities on Bonzi's serve, but his opponent demonstrated the same resilience he had shown all week to hold on.

From BBC

He saw a mammoth 14 percentage-point bump compared to the 2020 election, according to exit polls.

From BBC

While he plays tight-head for Sale, he switched to loose-head for England Under-20s, where Gloucester's Afolabi Fasogbon and Bath's Vilikesa Sela give England mammoth depth at three.

From BBC

Among Latinos, a key part of the Democratic voter base for decades, Trump benefited from a mammoth 14 percentage-point bump compared to the 2020 election, according to exit polls.

From BBC

Related Words

• colossal
• enormous
• gargantuan
• gigantic
• immense
• large
• massive
• monstrous
• monumental
• prodigious
• vast