as in whale
something or someone that is unusually large and powerful
mom-and-pop stores just can't compete with these mastodons of retailing
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mastodon
The frieze, estimated to be about 12,500 years old, depicts massive ice age beasts thought to have once roamed South America, including mastodons and ground sloths the size of a car.
—
Laura Bassett, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Aug. 2025
Guests can take a boat tour to learn more about the area’s history — which stretches back thousands of years to early Native Americans and mastodons — or stay overnight in the Wakulla Springs Lodge, which dates back to 1937.
—Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Aug. 2025
The giant sloths that evolved among ancient grasslands helped to keep those spaces open in tandem with other big herbivores, such as mastodons, as well as the large carnivores that preyed upon them.
—Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 July 2025
Researchers think the wide-open balds were created by grazing animals, first by mastodons and woolly mammoths, and later by deer and elk.
—Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan, Outside Online, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for mastodon
Laura Bassett, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Aug. 2025
Guests can take a boat tour to learn more about the area’s history — which stretches back thousands of years to early Native Americans and mastodons — or stay overnight in the Wakulla Springs Lodge, which dates back to 1937.
—Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Aug. 2025
The giant sloths that evolved among ancient grasslands helped to keep those spaces open in tandem with other big herbivores, such as mastodons, as well as the large carnivores that preyed upon them.
—Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 July 2025
Researchers think the wide-open balds were created by grazing animals, first by mastodons and woolly mammoths, and later by deer and elk.
—Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan, Outside Online, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for mastodon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mastodon
Noun
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Families can embark on thrilling excursions like whale watching tours or exploring the ice caves of Mendenhall Glacier while in port.—
Jessica Puckett,
Boston Herald,
26 Apr. 2026
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This family beach vacation spot is popular for whale watching in the winter months, and there’s a nightly cliff diving ceremony that all ages will enjoy.—
Kara Williams,
USA Today,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Dinosaurs is a 10-acre outdoor attraction featuring more than 40 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, along with walking trails, live shows and interactive exhibits.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
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Scientists have studied giant octopus relatives that roamed when dinosaurs were around, and researched some small octopuses that drilled into clams.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The parcel delivery giant backed its full-year guidance.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
28 Apr. 2026
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Dubbed the Flannel and the Fury, the tour brings together the alt-rock giants for the first time, with dates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other cities.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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One untitled work from 1994 shows a strange monster—a guard bent over, gazing back at us between his own legs, his upside-down grin framed by his jackboots.—
Ben Davis,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
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The Browns, who have openly admitted regret over the monster trade and deal, restructured his contract last month for a third time in roughly a yearlong span.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In a twist of prehistoric irony, our ancestors’ hunting skills proved too effective, leading to the extinction of mammoths around 10,000 years ago—and mammoth-bone dwellings with them.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
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Fossils have also been found that indicate the islands were also once home to pygmy mammoths, which only reached 4 to 6 feet tall.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Dosio, a 75-year-old big game hunter, was killed on April 17 during a hunting trip in Gabon, Central Africa, after a herd of elephants attacked him in the rainforest.—
Ryan Brennan
April 28,
Kansas City Star,
28 Apr. 2026
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That’s equivalent to the weight of about 1,000 elephants, and many of those chemicals are toxic to corals.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mastodon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mastodon. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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