jumbo
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈd͡ʒʌmbəʊ/
ipa: /ˈd͡ʒʌmboʊ/
rhymes: -ʌmbəʊ
Forms: form: jumbos
Etymology: From Jumbo (1860–1885), the name given to a large African elephant from East Africa that was purchased in 1882 by American showman P. T. Barnum (1810–1891) for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Compare Swahili jambo (“matter, thing”) and jumbe (“chief, headman”).
Senses: examples: text: I purchased a vine, and was rather impressed with the appearance of the grape; so I took the time to go down to see the vine, the Jumbo [a cultivar of muscadine, Vitis rotundifolia], and I saw a very large vine, trained on an arbor, perhaps covering a space of fifteen to twenty feet square, with the clusters hanging down through the lattice work;[…]
ref: [1894 December 12, “Proceedings of the Twenty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Ohio State Horticultural Society, Held at McCoy Post Hall, Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, December 12th, 1894”, in Forty-ninth Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture […], for the Year 1894. […], volume 49, Columbus, Oh.: J. L. Trauger, state printer, published 1895, →OCLC, page 71:
text: It is important to realise that slabbing may occur at any stage of the processing of a jumbo [large roll of paper from which smaller rolls are cut]. Typically slabbing becomes necessary when the reel being wound up has reached its required length and the jumbo has only a small contiguous length left on the spindle.
ref: 2002, Appita Journal: Journal of the Technical Association of the Australian and New Zealand Pulp and Paper Industry, volume 55, Parkville, Vic.: Technical Association of the Australian and New Zealand Pulp and Paper Industry, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 65, column 3:
glosses: An especially large or powerful person, animal, or thing.
glosses: An elephant.
examples: text: In all three tunnels the full face was drilled at once. […] [T]he mucking machine was immediately converted into a drilling jumbo upon completion of the mucking operation. Both jumbos carried all the posts and bars necessary for the mounting in any desired position of four automatic DA-30 drifters.
ref: 1942 January, H. E. Robinson, “Tucumcari Tunnel Construction”, in The Reclamation Era, volume 32, number 1, Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Reclamation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11, column 3:
text: The curtailment of drilling because of a disruption of the loading cycle is far less likely with the jumbo than with post and tripod drilling, because from three to five working places are available to the jumbo, whereas only one or, at the most, two faces can be worked by one crew with the old method.
ref: 1946, Mine and Quarry Engineering, London: Electrical Press, →OCLC, page 67:
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
synonyms: drilling jumbo
glosses: A platform-mounted machine for drilling rock.
examples: text: Take a jumbo ’cross the water (Like to see America)
ref: 1979, Breakfast in America, w:Supertramp:
glosses: A large airplane, such as those used for intercontinental travel.
glosses: Synonym of bologna (“type of meat”).
synonyms: word: bologna
extra: type of meat
examples: text: In the unwind area, one system loads and unloads the unwind stand almost simultaneously. The jumbo is stored ahead of the unwind on level rails.
ref: 1979, Paper Trade Journal (volume 163, issues 13-24, page 74)
glosses: A wide roll of machine-trimmed paper, ready to be cut into smaller widths.
Related terms: Jumbomania