heffalump
(chiefly, childish, humorous) (A child's name for) an elephant.
Etymology timeline
Born ~1882 · no dated citations yet19th centurySee decade cohort →
Definitions
#1·Apr 27, 2026
(chiefly, childish, humorous) (A child's name for) an elephant.
We went to the zoo and saw some heffalumps.
Origin: 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"), (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. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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#2·Apr 27, 2026
(slang, derogatory) A clumsy or overweight person.
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#3·Apr 27, 2026
(figurative, informal) Something that is elusive.
Mrs. Jumbo stood at the door with the baby heffalump in her arms. She waved a large blue handkerchief and heffalump waved his little white paws. "Goodbye, Daddy Jumbo, Goodbye" they cried. "Goodbye Mummy Jumbo, goodbye baby heffalump."
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