DCHP-1 Online

elk † 

• 1a n. a large ruminant mammal, Alces alces, of the northern forests.

  See also: moose (def. 1)  

  • c1665  (1885)  There is to be seen 300 wild cowes together, a number of Elks and Beavers, an infinit of fowls.
  • 1760  A great many are of opinion that this [moose] is the same animal as in other places is called the elk.
  • 1863  "It was a sharp idea to make the elk his own butcher's boy," quoth Argent.
  • 1937  The larger island . . . had been for some years much favoured by Moose the Elk as a place in which to bear and rear her fawns

• 1b n. Obs. or Hist. moosehide.

  See also: elk skin (def. 1)  

  • 1962  (1964)  In 1679 the returns of furs included [from what is now Northern Ontario] 10,500 beaver, 1,100 marten, 200 otter, 700 elk, and smaller furs

• 2 n. the North American elk or stag, Cervus canadensis

  See also: wapiti  

  • 1832  The horns of the elk are not palmated, and are longer than those of any other quadruped. Probably not one of these immense animals is now to be met with east of Lake Superior . . . .
  • 1877  [There] formerly the wood buffalo, and the elk, and now the moose, bighorn and bear find shelter.
  • 1966  Why has there been a drastic drop in the birthrate among deer and elk in the East Kootenay, one of the largest big game hunting areas in the province?