Definition of: elephant

(el′ə·fənt) noun
1. A massively built, almost hairless ungulate mammal of Asia and Africa (family Elephantidae), the largest of existing land animals, having a flexible proboscis or trunk, and the upper incisors developed as tusks valued as the chief source of ivory. There are two genera: the small–eared Asian elephant, Elephas Maximus and the African elephant, Loxodonta africana, with large flapping ears.
2. Something unwieldy, burdensome, or hard to dispose of. See WHITE ELEPHANT.
3. A size of paper, 23 by 38 inches. [<OF olifant <L elephantus <Gk. elephas, -antos ivory; ult. origin unknown]
AFRICAN ELEPHANT
(Height at the shoulder rarely above 11 feet; the Indian elephant slightly smaller; the cows, 7 to 9 feet)