heffalump

== English == === Etymology === Probably a childish mispronunciation of elephant, perhaps influenced by half a lump (as in "I'll have half a lump of sugar in my tea"), coined by the English author Alan Alexander Milne (1882–1956) as the name of an imaginary animal in his book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926). The animal was not described in the book, but the illustrator Ernest Howard Shepard (1879–1976) depicted it as an elephant. Sense 2 (“something which is elusive”) refers to the fact that in Milne’s book the characters Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet set a trap for, but are unable to capture, a heffalump. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhɛfəlʌmp/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhɛfəˌlʌmp/, /-ˌləmp/ Hyphenation: hef‧fa‧lump === Noun === heffalump (plural heffalumps) (chiefly childish, humorous) (A child's name for) an elephant. (figurative, informal) Something that is elusive. (slang, derogatory) A clumsy or overweight person. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fat person Antonyms: see Thesaurus:thin person ==== Alternative forms ==== Heffalump ==== Derived terms ==== heffalump trap ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === heffalump on Wikipedia.Wikipedia