elk

1. 1.

   large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male; called `elk' in Europe and `moose' in North America

   SynonymsmooseAlces alces

   Broaderdeer

   Part ofAlces
2. 2.

   large North American deer with large much-branched antlers in the male

   SynonymswapitiAmerican elkCervus elaphus canadensis

   Broaderdeer

   Part ofCervus
3. 3.

   common deer of temperate Europe and Asia

   Synonymsred deerAmerican elkwapitiCervus elaphus

   Broaderdeer

   Narrowerharthindbrocket

   Part ofCervus

Other forms of elk

plural

elk(unchanged)

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about elk

What does elk mean?

elk means "large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male; called `elk' in Europe and `moose' in North America". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in elk?

elk has 1 syllable: elk. In IPA it is /ˈɛlk/.

What is another word for elk?

Close synonyms include moose, Alces alces, wapiti, American elk, Cervus elaphus canadensis. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is elk a common word?

elk is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.