mastodon

noun

mas·​to·​don ˈma-stə-ˌdän 

-dən

1

: any of various extinct mammals (genus Mammut synonym Mastodon) of the elephant family existing from the Miocene through the Pleistocene that are distinguished from the related mammoths chiefly by molar teeth with cone-shaped cusps

2

: one that is unusually large

mastodonic

ˌma-stə-ˈdä-nik 

adjective

mastodont

ˈma-stə-ˌdänt 

adjective or noun

Synonyms

• behemoth
• blockbuster
• colossus
• dinosaur
• dreadnought
• elephant
• giant
• Goliath
• jumbo
• leviathan
• mammoth
• monster
• titan
• whale
• whopper

Examples of mastodon in a Sentence

mom-and-pop stores just can't compete with these mastodons of retailing

Recent Examples on the Web

Read More: Pre-Clovis Projectiles Hint At Multiple Migrations Hunting Massive and Small Mammals Ancient people who used Clovis technology typically hunted massive prey, like mammoths and mastodons. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 29 Oct. 2024

Scientists now hope to find more fossils in the area, which could shed light on how and when the mastodons arrived. —Reuters, 29 Sep. 2024

Office of the State Archaeologist, Iowa Last year, a tourist on a Northern California beach saw a gigantic one-foot tooth that once belonged to an ancient mastodon. —Cara Tabachnick, CBS News, 16 Aug. 2024

Related article Fossil of an ancient shark that swam in the age of dinosaurs solves centuries-long mystery The Columbian mammoth’s tusks are so curved that two could almost make a complete circle, whereas common mastodons’ tusks do not curve nearly as much, Phillips said. —Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 17 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin Mastodont-, Mastodon, genus name, Latinization of French mastodonte, vernacular name for the animal, from Greek mastós "breast, nipple" (probably from a pre-Greek substratal language) + French -odonte -odont; so named from the nipple-like cusps on the crowns of the molar teeth

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

mastodon

noun

mast·​odon

ˈmas-tə-ˌdän,

-dən

: any of various huge extinct mammals related to the mammoths and existing elephants