<B>elephant beetle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of several lamellicorn beetles of enormous size, having a curved horn projecting at the front of the head, found especially in tropical America. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of certain beetles or weevils having a long snout or proboscis. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantbird">
<B>elephant bird,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a very large, extinct, flightless bird which formerly inhabited Madagascar; aepyornis. It stood about ten feet tall, weighed about 1,000 pounds, and laid eggs over thirteen inches long. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantcreeper">
<B>elephant creeper,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a woody climbing vine of the morning-glory family, growing in India, and reaching the tops of the tallest trees. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantear">
<B>elephant-ear, </B>noun. or <B>elephant-ear sponge,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large horny sponge found in the Mediterranean Sea, having a very fine texture and used commercially. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantgrass">
<B>elephant grass,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a tall perennial grass native to tropical Africa and Asia, grown in warm regions as a pasture grass. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantiasic">
<B>elephantiasic, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person suffering from elephantiasis. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with elephantiasis. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantiasis">
<B>elephantiasis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a disease in which parts of the body, usually the scrotum or legs, become greatly enlarged and the skin thickened and broken. It is caused by parasitic, filarial worms that block the flow of lymph. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a disproportionate enlargement or exaggeration (of any object or quality). <BR> <I>Ex. It is a tremendous building, saved from elephantiasis by the skill of its architects (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elephantine">
<B>elephantine, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>like an elephant; huge, heavy,clumsy, and slow. <BR> <I>Ex. The Post Road ... kept close to the base of the bluffs, which in this area were palisades of elephantine granite boulders (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of elephants. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantmansdisease">
<B>elephant man's disease</B> or <B>elephant man disease,</B> =neurofibromatosis.</DL>
<A NAME="elephantseal">
<B>elephant seal,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a very large, rare seal found along the Pacific Coast from the Antarctic to Southern California; sea elephant. The male has a long, overhanging proboscis and reaches a length of over twenty feet. <BR> <I>Ex. The sealing fleets concentrated on another variety, the so-called elephant seals, which although they provided no valuable fur turned out to be a source of oil (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elephantsear">
<B>elephant's-ear, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a plant with large leaves shaped like elephants' ears; caladium. <DD><B> 2a. </B>the taro, especially when grown as an ornamental plant. <DD><B> b. </B>any one of various begonias with large, lopsided leaves. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantsfoot">
<B>elephant's-foot, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a South African plant having a large stem that is rough outside with a fleshy, edible interior. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantshrew">
<B>elephant shrew,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small, leaping, insect-eating animal of Africa. It resembles a mouse and has a long snout like an elephant's trunk. </DL>
<A NAME="elephantstusk">
<B>elephant's-tusk, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a mollusk; one of the tooth shells. </DL>
<A NAME="eleusinia">
<B>Eleusinia, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> the Eleusinian mysteries and the festival celebrated with them. </DL>
<A NAME="eleusinian">
<B>Eleusinian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with Eleusis, an ancient Greek city near Athens. </DL>
<A NAME="eleusinianmysteries">
<B>Eleusinian mysteries,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the secret, religious ceremonies held yearly in ancient Greece at Eleusis in honor of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone. </DL>
<A NAME="eleutheria">
<B>Eleutheria, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> the feast of liberty, an ancient Greek festival celebrated at Plataea in memory of the great victory won there by the Greeks over the Persians in 479 B.C. </DL>
<B>eleutherodactylous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having the hind toe tendon free, as is the case with most passerine birds. </DL>
<A NAME="eleutheromania">
<B>eleutheromania, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an abnormally great desire for freedom. <BR> <I>Ex. But most of these poems are marred by a false concept of poetry as a free excitement unattached to the hardness of things, an eleutheromania (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="eleutheromaniac">
<B>eleutheromaniac, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who has an abnormally great desire for freedom. </DL>
<A NAME="elev">
<B>elev.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> elevation. </DL>
<A NAME="elevate">
<B>elevate, </B>verb, <B>-vated,</B> <B>-vating,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to lift up; raise. <BR> <I>Ex. He elevated the dumbwaiter to the second floor.</I> (SYN) hoist. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to raise in rank or station. <BR> <I>Ex. The soldier was elevated to a higher rank for bravery. When the president of the company retired, the vice-president was elevated to his position.</I> (SYN) promote, advance, exalt. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to raise in quality. <BR> <I>Ex. Reading good books elevates your mind.</I> (SYN) promote, advance, exalt. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to put in high spirits; make joyful or proud; elate. <DD><B> 5. </B>to raise (the voice). <DD><I>adj. </I> (Poetic.) elevated. </DL>
<A NAME="elevated">
<B>elevated, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>raised up; high. <BR> <I>Ex. an elevated train station, an elevated highway. He spoke from an elevated platform.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) dignified; lofty; noble. <BR> <I>Ex. an elevated passage in the Bible.</I> (SYN) exalted. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) in high spirits; joyful or proud. <BR> <I>Ex. an elevated mood.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> (Informal.) an elevated railroad. </DL>
<A NAME="elevatedpole">
<B>elevated pole,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the visible celestial pole at any given place; the celestial pole which is above the horizon. <BR> <I>Ex. The south celestial pole ... is the elevated pole for observers in the southern hemisphere (Robert H. Baker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elevatedrailroad">
<B>elevated railroad,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an electric railroad raised above the ground on a supporting frame; el. It is high enough for traffic to pass underneath. </DL>
<A NAME="elevation">
<B>elevation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a raised place; high place. <BR> <I>Ex. A hill is an elevation.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>height above the earth's surface. <BR> <I>Ex. The airplane flew at an elevation of 2,000 feet.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>height above sea level. <BR> <I>Ex. The elevation of Denver is 5,280 feet.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) dignity; loftiness; nobility. <BR> <I>Ex. The doctor believed that the elevation of mankind is universal.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a raising; lifting up. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) the elevation of Caesar from general to ruler of Rome.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a being raised or lifted up. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Architecture.) a flat scale drawing of the front, rear, or side of a building, as distinguished from a ground plan. <DD><B> 8. </B>(Astronomy.) the angular distance of any heavenly body above the horizon. <DD><B> 9. </B>(Surveying.) the angular distance of an object above the horizontal plane through the point of observation. <DD><B> 10. </B>the ability to do an elevation in dancing. <DD><B> 11a. </B>the raising of the Eucharistic elements during the Mass. <DD><B> b. </B>the part of the Mass at which this occurs. </DL>
<A NAME="elevation">
<B>elevation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a leap of a ballet dancer. </DL>
<A NAME="elevator">
<B>elevator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>something that raises or lifts up. <DD><B> 2. </B>a moving platform or cage to carry people and things up and down in a building, mine, or the like; a lift. <BR> <I>Ex. Another interesting modern feature is the change-over from elevators to escalators (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a building for storing grain. <BR> <I>Ex. Elevators are a familiar sight on the prairies.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>an adjustable flat piece, usually on the tail of an airplane, to cause it to go up or down. <BR> <I>Ex. The upward and downward course of the airplane is governed by the elevator (Beauchamp, Mayfield, and West).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elevatorshaft">
<B>elevator shaft,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a vertical passageway for an elevator. </DL>
<A NAME="elevatorshoe">
<B>elevator shoe,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a shoe with raised heel and sole made for short men. <BR> <I>Ex. The champion didn't want his wife towering over him, and he refused to wear elevator shoes (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elevatory">
<B>elevatory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> serving to elevate. </DL>
<A NAME="eleve">
<B>eleve, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a pupil. </DL>
<A NAME="eleven">
<B>eleven, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>one more than ten; 11. <BR> <I>Ex. We bought a dozen cookies but ate one and got home with only eleven.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a team of eleven football or cricket players. <BR> <I>Ex. The Chicago eleven beat the team from Miami 14 to 7.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> being one more than ten. </DL>
<A NAME="elevenplus">
<B>eleven-plus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a public-school examination administered in Great Britain to eleven-year-old children entering secondary school to determine if their future education should be technical or in the arts. <BR> <I>Ex. The years of preparation for the eleven-plus will continue to be the most aperient and depressing of all our social disciplines (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elevenses">
<B>elevenses, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British Informal.) a snack eaten before noon (originally at eleven o'clock) consisting of tea, coffee, or milk and biscuits. <BR> <I>Ex. several journalists in for elevenses this morning and several more for tea this afternoon (Smith's London Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="eleventh">
<B>eleventh, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>next after the 10th; last in a series of 11. <DD><B> 2. </B>one of 11 equal parts. </DL>
<A NAME="eleventhhour">
<B>eleventh hour,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the latest possible moment; time just before it is too late. </DL>
<A NAME="elevon">
<B>elevon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a movable control surface on an aircraft or missile that functions as both an elevator and an aileron. </DL>
