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 Definitions of white elephant  [ˈʰwaɪtˌkoʊm, ˈwaɪt-]  

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Definition of 'white elephant' Random House Webster's College Dictionary 

1. (n.) white elephant
a possession unwanted by the owner but difficult to dispose of.

2.  white elephant
a possession entailing great expense out of proportion to its value to the owner.

3.  white elephant
an albino Indian elephant.

Etymology:  (1850–55; from the tale that the King of Siam would award a disagreeable courtier a white elephant, the upkeep of which would ruin the courtier)

Definition of 'white elephant' Princeton's WordNet 

1. (noun) white elephant
a valuable possession whose upkeep is excessively expensive

2. (noun) white elephant
albinic Indian elephant; rare and sometimes venerated in east Asia


Translation of 'white elephant' Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary 

Sense: a useless, unwanted possession.

Afrikaans flag Afrikaans: wit olifant Arabic flag Arabic: غَرَض غَيْر مُفيد وكَثير Bulgarian flag Bulgarian: безполезно притежание
Brazilian flag Brazilian: inútil / presente sem uti Czech flag Czech: zbytečná věc German flag German: lästiger Besitz
Danish flag Danish: hvid elefant Greek flag Greek: δώρον άδωρον Spanish flag Spanish: elefante blanco, maula
Estonian flag Estonian: nagu sangata kohver Farsi flag Farsi: موقعیت ناخواسته Finnish flag Finnish: turhuus
French flag French: objet superflu Hebrew flag Hebrew: פִּיל לָבָן Hindi flag Hindi: बेकार, खर्चीला
Croatian flag Croatian: beskorisna, neželjena stv Hungarian flag Hungarian: egy nyűg (igen terjedelme Indonesian flag Indonesian: benda tak berguna
Icelandic flag Icelandic: gagnslítil eign Italian flag Italian: (oggetto superfluo) Japanese flag Japanese: もて余しもの
Korean flag Korean: 귀찮은 소유물 Lithuanian flag Lithuanian: nereikalingas turtas/daik Latvian flag Latvian: nevajadzīgs/nederīgs īpaš
Malay flag Malay: seperti gajah putih; sesu Dutch flag Dutch: sta-in-de-weg Norwegian flag Norwegian: unyttig (nips)gjenstand
Polish flag Polish: grat, nieprzydatny prezen Persian flag Persian: موقعیت ناخواسته Pashto flag Pashto: نه غوښتلي موقعيت
Romanian flag Romanian: obiect de prisos Russian flag Russian: обременительное имущество Slovak flag Slovak: príťaž, zbytočná vec
Slovenian flag Slovenian: nadležna posest Serbian flag Serbian: beskoristan posed Swedish flag Swedish: onödig lyx, ekonomisk bel
Thai flag Thai: ของไม่มีประโยชน์ Turkish flag Turkish: bir işe yaramayan eşya Taiwanese flag Taiwanese: 沒有用或不想要的東西
Ukrainian flag Ukrainian: непотрібна річ Urdu flag Urdu: قیمتی لیکن بےکار شے Vietnamese flag Vietnamese: vật cồng kềnh lắm tiền mà
Chinese flag Chinese: 无用的东西,累赘物

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'white elephant' - Nearby Entries  

white dwarf  white dwarf star  white elephant  white elm  white-faced hornet  whited sepulchre  whiteface  



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"white elephant." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2012. 15 February. 2012. http://www.definitions.net/definition/white elephant


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