WHITE ELEPHANT

Meaning of WHITE ELEPHANT in English

( white elephants)

If you describe something as a white elephant , you mean that it is a waste of money because it is completely useless.

The pavilion has become a £14 million steel and glass white elephant.

N-COUNT [ disapproval ]

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary. Английский словарь Коллинз COBUILD для изучающих язык на продвинутом уровне. 2006

WHITE ELEPHANT — noun Date: 15th century an Indian elephant of a pale color that is sometimes venerated in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, …
Толковый словарь английского языка - Merriam Webster
WHITE ELEPHANT — noun 1. : an albinic Indian elephant of which more or less of the usual dark pigment is absent from …
Webster's New International English Dictionary
WHITE ELEPHANT — () Something requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit; any burdensome possession.
Английский словарь Webster
WHITE ELEPHANT — 1. a possession unwanted by the owner but difficult to dispose of: Our Victorian bric-a-brac and furniture were white elephants. …
Random House Webster's Unabridged English Dictionary
WHITE ELEPHANT — expensive investment that turns out to be useless and cannot be gotten rid of; object which is not needed, unnecessary …
Толковый словарь английского языка - Редакция bed
WHITE ELEPHANT — Date: 15th century 1. : an Indian elephant of a pale color that is sometimes venerated in India, Sri Lanka, …
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary
WHITE ELEPHANT — add. ·- something requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit; any burdensome possession.
Webster English vocab
WHITE ELEPHANT — Function: noun Date: 15th century 1 : an Indian elephant of a pale color that is sometimes venerated in India, …
Merriam Webster Collegiate English Dictionary
WHITE ELEPHANT — ■ noun a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose …
Concise Oxford English vocab
WHITE ELEPHANT — [white elephant] n (15c) 1: an Indian elephant of a pale color that is sometimes venerated in India, Sri Lanka, …
Merriam-Webster English vocab
WHITE ELEPHANT — noun [ usually sing. ] a thing that is useless and no longer needed, although it may have cost a …
Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
WHITE ELEPHANT — ˌwhite ˈelephant BrE AmE noun [countable] [ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: From the supposed practice of the King of Siam, …
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
WHITE ELEPHANT — (~s) If you describe something as a ~, you mean that it is a waste of money because it is …
Collins COBUILD - Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык
WHITE ELEPHANT — noun EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES ▪ The dam has become something of a white elephant . EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS ▪ …
Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary
WHITE ELEPHANT — Synonyms and related words : Christmas present, award, birthday present, box, burden, burthen, cadeau, cargo, charge, cross, cumbrance, deadweight, difficulty, …
Moby Thesaurus English vocabulary
WHITE ELEPHANT — {n. phr.} Unwanted property, such as real estate, that is hard to sell. * /That big house of theirs on …
Slang English vocab
WHITE ELEPHANT — {n. phr.} Unwanted property, such as real estate, that is hard to sell. * /That big house of theirs on …
Словарь английских идиом
WHITE ELEPHANT — a purchase that was not used, a useless object Should we take the statue of Stalin to the White Elephant …
English Idioms vocab
WHITE ELEPHANT — a purchase that was not used, a useless object Should we take the statue of Stalin to the White Elephant …
English Idioms vocabulary
WHITE ELEPHANT — n. phr. Unwanted property, such as real estate, that is hard to sell. That big house of theirs on the …
American Idioms English vocabulary
WHITE ELEPHANT — 1) белый слон (животное - объект почитания в Индии и на Цейлоне, которое нельзя было использовать как рабочее. По легенде, …
Большой Англо-Русский словарь
WHITE ELEPHANT — Большие бессмысленные работы
Американский Англо-Русский словарь
WHITE ELEPHANT — обременительное имущество; подарок, который неизвестно куда девать
Англо-Русско-Английский словарь общей лексики - Сборник из лучших словарей
WHITE ELEPHANT — 1) белый слон (животное - объект почитания в Индии и на Цейлоне, которое нельзя было использовать как рабочее. По легенде, …
Англо-Русский словарь Tiger
WHITE ELEPHANT — громоздкий подарок, бесполезная вещь, обременительное имущество
English-Russian-dictionary - Bed release
WHITE ELEPHANT — громоздкий подарок, бесполезная вещь, обременительное имущество
English-Russian-dictionary - Bed release
WHITE ELEPHANT — 1) белый слон ( животное - объект почитания в Индии и на Цейлоне, которое нельзя было использовать как рабочее. По …
Англо-Русский словарь по общей лексике
WHITE ELEPHANT — 1) белый слон (животное - объект почитания в Индии и на Цейлоне, которое нельзя было использовать как рабочее. По легенде, …
Англо-Русский словарь общей лексики
WHITE ELEPHANT — обременительное имущество; подарок, который неизвестно куда девать
Англо-Русский словарь Мюллера - 24 редакция
WHITE ELEPHANT — обременительное имущество; подарок, который неизвестно куда девать
Англо-Русский словарь Мюллера - редакция bed
WHITE ELEPHANT — бирж. "белый слон" (выражение, обозначающее сделку, при которой расходы превышают потенциальную прибыль) See: gambling
Новый Англо-Русский толковый словарь по финансовым рынкам
WHITE ELEPHANT — 1) белый слон (животное - объект почитания в Индии и на Цейлоне, которое нельзя было использовать как рабочее. По легенде, …
Новый большой Англо-Русский словарь
WHITE — [c mediumvioletred] (as used in expressions) White Monk white corpuscle white blood cell Bourke White Margaret cabbage white white footed …
Английский словарь Британика
ELEPHANT — I Any of three ungulate species in the order Proboscidea (family Elephantidae), characterized by their large size, long trunk, tusks, …
Английский словарь Британика
WHITE — I. ˈhwīt also ˈwī-; usu -īd.+V adjective ( -er/-est ) Etymology: Middle English white, whit, from Old English hwīt; akin …
Webster's New International English Dictionary
ELEPHANT — ˈeləfənt noun ( -s ) Etymology: Middle English olifaunt, elephant, from Old French & Latin; Old French olifant elephant, ivory, …
Webster's New International English Dictionary
ELEPHANT — (n.) Ivory; the tusk of the elephant.
Английский словарь Webster
WHITE — /hwuyt, wuyt/ , adj., whiter, whitest , n. , v. , whited, whiting . adj. 1. of the color of …
Random House Webster's Unabridged English Dictionary
ELEPHANT — — elephantoid , adj. /el"euh feuhnt/ , n. , pl. elephants , ( esp. collectively ) elephant for 1. 1. …
Random House Webster's Unabridged English Dictionary
WHITE — I. ˈhwīt, ˈwīt adjective ( whit·er ; whit·est ) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hwīt; akin to Old High …
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary
ELEPHANT — noun ( plural elephants also elephant ) Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French olifant, elefant, …
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary
WHITE — noun a white pigment; as, venice white. 2. white ·superl gray, as from age; having silvery hair; hoary. 3. white …
Webster English vocab
ELEPHANT — noun ivory; the tusk of the elephant. 2. elephant ·noun a mammal of the order proboscidia, of which two living …
Webster English vocab
WHITE — [white] adj whit.er ; whit.est [ME, fr. OE hwit; akin to OHG hwiz white and prob. to OCS svetu light, …
Merriam-Webster English vocab
ELEPHANT — [el.e.phant] n, pl elephants also elephant often attrib [ME, fr. MF & L; MF olifant, fr. L elephantus, fr. Gk …
Merriam-Webster English vocab
ELEPHANT — Indian elephant (Elephas maximus). African elephant (Loxodonta africana). either of two species, Elephas maximus, the Indian elephant, and Loxodonta africana, …
Britannica English vocabulary
WHITE — white, White BrE AmE waɪt hwaɪt — Preference poll, British English: waɪt 77%, hwaɪt 23%. ▷ whited ˈwaɪt ɪd ˈhwaɪt-, …
Longman Pronunciation English Dictionary
ELEPHANT — elephant BrE AmE ˈel ɪf ə nt -əf- ▷ elephant|s s
Longman Pronunciation English Dictionary
WHITE — / waɪt; NAmE / adjective , noun ■ adjective ( whiter , whit·est ) 1. having the colour of fresh …
Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
ELEPHANT — / ˈelɪfənt; NAmE / noun a very large animal with thick grey skin, large ears, two curved outer teeth called …
Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
WHITE — I. white 1 S1 W1 /waɪt/ BrE AmE adjective [ Word Family: noun : ↑ white , ↑ whiteness , …
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
ELEPHANT — el ‧ e ‧ phant /ˈeləfənt, ˈelɪfənt/ BrE AmE noun [countable] [ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: …
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
WHITE — adj., n., & v. --adj. 1 resembling a surface reflecting sunlight without absorbing any of the visible rays; of the …
Английский основной разговорный словарь
ELEPHANT — n. (pl. same or elephants) 1 the largest living land animal, of which two species survive, the larger African (Loxodonta …
Английский основной разговорный словарь
WHITE — adj., n., & v. adj. 1 resembling a surface reflecting sunlight without absorbing any of the visible rays; of the …
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
ELEPHANT — n. (pl. same or elephants) 1 the largest living land animal, of which two species survive, the larger African (Loxodonta …
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
WHITE — adj., n., & v. --adj. 1. resembling a surface reflecting sunlight without absorbing any of the visible rays; of the …
Oxford English vocab
ELEPHANT — n. (pl. same or elephants) 1. the largest living land animal, of which two species survive, the larger African (Loxodonta …
Oxford English vocab
WHITE — ( whiter, whitest, whites) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Something that …
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
ELEPHANT — ( elephants) An elephant is a very large animal with a long, flexible nose called a trunk, which it uses …
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
WHITE
Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary
ELEPHANT — noun COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES white elephant ▪ When the theatre first opened it was widely regarded as a white …
Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary
WHITE — n. white whale White Monk white corpuscle white blood cell Bourke White Margaret cabbage white white footed mouse great white …
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
ELEPHANT — n. elephant bird Elephant Man elephant seal
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary

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