elephant walk

noun

The taxiing of multiple aircraft in close formation before a mass take-off.

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Meanings

nounelephant walk (plural elephant walks)

plural elephant walks

  1. USaeronauticsThe taxiing of multiple aircraft in close formation before a mass take-off.
  2. slangA men's hazing ritual in which the men walk with each one holding the penis of the man behind him and with his thumb in the anus of the man in front of him.

    […] which the players moved in a line while gripping the genitalia of those in front of them similar to an "elephant walk".

    2012, Lynn M. Jamieson, Thomas Orr, Sport and Violence, page 51
    1 more example

    […] members at Sacramento State University simulating the elephant walk (a ritual that involves men forming a line and walking as a group while grasping the penis of the man in front of them).

    2022, Jana Mathews, The Benefits of Friends, page 60
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see elephant, walk.

Origin

From elephant + walk. Coined in the United States Air Force during World War 2, in reference to the appearance of large numbers of taxiing heavy bombers.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

elephant walk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elephant%20walk

MLA

“elephant walk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elephant%20walk. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “elephant walk,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elephant%20walk.

Source: elephant walk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.