How to use ivory in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, adjective

Ivory means the hard white form of dentin which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other animals. Example: “Until the CITES sales ban, elephant tusks were the 'backbone' of the legal ivory trade.”

Examples of ivory by meaning

nounThe hard white form of dentin which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other animals.

“Leave the ivory!” he cried.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 145

nounThe keys of a piano; or, the white keys, as opposed to the black keys (ebonies).

to tickle the ivories
Tony had gone into the storage room and gotten two more standing lamps, one placed near the ebonies and ivories.2016, Peter Wendt, Nikki Magee, Lulu.com, page 52

adjectiveMade of ivory.

Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

adjectiveResembling or having the colour of ivory.

The walls and ceiling of this drawing-room in Montague Square are painted ivory.1938, Interior Decoration To-day, page 132

More sentences with ivory

Until the CITES sales ban, elephant tusks were the 'backbone' of the legal ivory trade.From the entry tusk
Such a proposal looks fine from an ivory tower, but it could never work in real life.From the entry ivory tower
People who smuggle artifacts, blood diamonds and ivory trinkets on the black market are unforgivable in my mind.From the entry unforgivable
The stories don't even tell us what the ivory girl's name was.2014 August 19, Rick Riordan, “You Gotta Love Aphrodite”, in Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods, New York, N.Y.: Disney Hyperion Books, →ISBN…. From the entry happily ever after
Their wider throw-off angle makes billiards a far less difficult game than it is with ivories.2013, Riso Levi, Billiards in the Twentieth Century. From the entry throw-off
He reached for the ivory handle of his ankus and turned to the stripling.2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Sceptre, published 2008, page 22. From the entry ankus
Makeup colors like ivory and blush dominate spring collections and have even infiltrated Burberry's shoes.2006 January 9, Kate Betts, “What to Watch For in 2006”, in Time. From the entry blush
I must say that, with all due respect, I think that's a very ivory tower approach.1995, Hearings relating to Madison Guaranty S&L and the Whitewater Development Corporation, Washington, DC phase, page 504. From the entry ivory tower
School is an ivory tower on the hill; it nestles in the gated groves of academe.1994, Terry O'Banion, A Learning College for the 21st Century, page 11. From the entry townie
Designed by Shannon Rodgers for Jerry Silverman, in ivory souffléd wool tweed.1963, Vogue - Volume 142, page 17. From the entry soufflé
“I wouldn't marry anyone else if they came to me bringing apes, ivory and peacocks.1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XI. From the entry blue-eyed
It was framed in ivory, and of fluted ivory were the slim columns it swung between.1911, Max Beerbohm, chapter II, in Zuleika Dobson. From the entry cheval glass
Ancient combs were made from wood, bone and ivory, but the latter would have been expensive, imported luxuries.2022 November 9, Ian Sample, “Oldest known sentence written in first alphabet discovered – on a head-lice comb”, in The Guardian, archived…. From the entry Canaan
There is a list of possessions auctioned after her death – her pillboxes and playing cards, two silver-mounted ivory lemon-squeezers.2018 August 2, Parul Sehgal, “Beauty, bad temper and scandal in a riveting look at Princess Margaret”, in The Bellingham Herald, volume…. From the entry pillbox
After beating her face down she took off the ivory silk robe to hang it behind the door.2011, Natasha Johnigan, Unconditional, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 74. From the entry beat one's face
Wealthy children flaunted expensive bandalores made of glass and ivory.2009, Sharon M. Scott, Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia, page 345. From the entry bandalore
Now her fingers began to unbutton the ivory studs that ran slantwise across the chest of his kurta.2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 44. From the entry kurta
The bride wore an ivory and pink silk lehenga skirt, a blouse adorned with Swarovski crystals and an 18-foot-long chiffon veil.2008 January 13, Joann Biondi, “Sabeen Ali and Hashim Mian”, in New York Times. From the entry lehenga
And the grips—for a fighting sword we have ivory, filigree—'2005, Julian Stockwin, chapter 2, in Tenacious, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN, page 30. From the entry quillon
She rubs the worn ivory across her cheek.1994, Bernice Morgan, Waiting for Time, Breakwater, →ISBN, page 17. From the entry folding bone
Eleanor wore a green silk dress to bring out here eyes, with an ivory tatted collar and reticule to match.1993, TC Boyle, The Road to Wellville, Penguin, published 1994, page 150. From the entry reticule
It was an ivory instrument of delicate, symmetrical design.1967, Franklin W. Dixon, Hardy Boys 47: Mystery of the Whale Tattoo. From the entry jagging wheel
The centre figure is Hathor in ivory.1931, John Garrow Duncan, Digging Up Biblical History: Recent Archæology in Palestine and Its Bearing on the Old Testament, page 235. From the entry aegides
For so close to life were they that one might swear the graceful bearded gods themselves sate on the ivory thrones.1920, H. P. Lovecraft, The Doom that Came to Sarnath. From the entry eikon
Has to keep her hands white to tickle the ivories.1915 October, Willa Sibert Cather, chapter XVI, in The Song of the Lark, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […]…. From the entry tickle the ivories
Crousse, white and crimson; Duchess de Nemours, sulphur white and fragrant; Marie Lemoine, ivory white; Delicatissima, crimson purple.1915, House & Garden, page 55. From the entry baker's
He gives everything that the most morbid taphologist could suggest, beginning with “splendidly carved full-size oak casket, with black ivory handles.1913–1915, Rupert Brooke, “New York (continued)”, in Letters from America, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, […], published 1916…. From the entry taphologist
Look, Pisistratus, man after my own heart, see the gleam of bronze and gold—of amber, ivory, and silver.1900, Homer, “Book IV”, in Samuel Butler, transl., The Odyssey: Rendered into English Prose for the Use of Those who Cannot Read the…. From the entry after one's own heart
It is almost exclusively an ancient Egyptian art form, but some beautiful smallscale Indian examples in ivory have been discovered at Bagrām in Afghanistan.2017, Cleo Kuhtz, editor, Sculpture: Materials, Techniques, Styles, and Practice (Britannica’s Practical Guide to the Arts), New York…. From the entry coelanaglyphic
A Yup'ik Eskimo storyknife was usually made from wood, bone, or ivory by a father, uncle, or grandfather for a young girl in the family.2013, Carolyn Kremers, Upriver, →ISBN, page xii. From the entry storyknife
There is a real figurative homogeneity in the statuettes, even when fabricated from diverse raw materials (ivory and marlacious limestone for the Kostenki group).1993, Heidi Knecht, Anne Pike-Tay, Randall Keith White, Before Lascaux: The Complex Record of the Early Upper Paleolithic. From the entry marlacious
She wants me to stay here and learn how to weave baskets and carve ivory and spin qiviut and die of boredom!1992, Dana Stabenow, A Cold Day for Murder, →ISBN, page 77. From the entry qiviut
From this ivory, or soapen, pinnacle we can see at once that there is no such thing as a population problem; there is only population.1958, Roy G. Francis, The Population Ahead, page 64. From the entry soapen
Here are some brides of ten compelled to seat themselves on the fascinum, the virile ivory in the temples of classical scholarship.1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita. From the entry fascinum
Presently the man took a reed pen from his satchel, and trimmed it with a little ivory knife, carved in the semblance of a fish.1906, Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill. From the entry penknife

Meaning of ivory

noun The hard white form of dentin which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other animals.
noun A creamy white color, the color of ivory.
noun Something made from or resembling ivory.

Full definition of ivory

Questions about ivory in a sentence

How do you use ivory in a sentence?: Ivory is used as a noun and adjective. For example: “Until the CITES sales ban, elephant tusks were the 'backbone' of the legal ivory trade.”
What is a short sentence with ivory?: “to tickle the ivories”
What does ivory mean?: Ivory means the hard white form of dentin which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other animals.

Adapted from Wiktionary: ivory (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use ivory in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/ivory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.