# mammoth

/ˈmæməθ/ (US) · /mˈæməθ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/mammoth
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. extremely large

adjective · CEFR B2

extremely large, huge, or very important.

For teachers: denoting something of enormous size, scale, or importance; often used to describe tasks or physical structures.

- Cleaning up the city after the big storm was a mammoth task.
- The government faced a mammoth challenge in restructuring the national debt while simultaneously funding essential public services.

### 2. extinct animal

noun · CEFR B2

a large, hairy animal like an elephant that lived a long time ago during the ice age.

For teachers: any extinct elephantine mammal of the genus Mammuthus, typically characterized by long, curved tusks and a coat of long hair.

- Scientists found the bones of a woolly mammoth frozen in the ice.
- Paleontologists recently unearthed a remarkably well-preserved mammoth skeleton, providing new insights into the migratory patterns of Pleistocene megafauna.

### 3. something very large

noun · CEFR C1 · Informal

a person or thing that is much larger or more powerful than others of the same type.

For teachers: a person, organization, or thing of exceptional size, power, or influence within its field.

- The new tech company has grown into a corporate mammoth.
- By the end of the decade, the small startup had transformed into a global mammoth, dominating the telecommunications industry through aggressive acquisitions.

## Examples

- The team faced a mammoth task to finish the project on time.
- The construction of the new stadium was a mammoth undertaking that required thousands of workers and years of planning.
- Despite the mammoth scale of the global logistics network, a single blockage in a major shipping canal can cause significant delays across multiple continents.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.