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/ˈmæs.tə.dɒn/ · noun
Extinct elephant-like mammal of the genus †Mammut that flourished worldwide from Miocene through Pleistocene times; differs from elephants and mammoths in the form of the molar teeth..
When, exactly, Europeans first stumbled upon the bones of an American mastodon is unclear. An isolated molar unearthed in a field in upstate New York was sent off to London in 1705; it was labeled the “tooth of a Giant”.
The battery is dying, and Natalia's iPhone charger doesn't fit my mastodon of a phone anyway.
Nor does it work for governance: the policy has become such a mastodon that we can't adapt it quickly enough to different regions or different circumstances.
Use mastodon when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Mastodon means Extinct elephant-like mammal of the genus †Mammut that flourished worldwide from Miocene through Pleistocene times; differs from elephants and mammoths in the form of the molar teeth..
Common synonyms include incognitum, mastodont.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
When, exactly, Europeans first stumbled upon the bones of an American mastodon is unclear. An isolated molar unearthed in a field in upstate New York was sent off to London in 1705; it was labeled the “tooth of a Giant”.
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