war elephant

noun

Any elephant trained and guided by humans for combat.

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Meanings

nounwar elephant (plural war elephants)

plural war elephants

  1. historicalgovernmentAny elephant trained and guided by humans for combat.

    During the Second Punic War, 218-201 BCE, Hannibal trekked 37 war elephants across the Alps from what is now Spain into Italy.

    2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 273

Translations

Finnish sotanorsu
  • sotanorsuelephant trained for combat
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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