white elephant - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

white elephant

–noun

1.	a possession unwanted by the owner but difficult to dispose of: Our Victorian bric-a-brac and furniture were white elephants.

2.	a possession entailing great expense out of proportion to its usefulness or value to the owner: When he bought the mansion he didn't know it was going to be such a white elephant.

3.	an abnormally whitish or pale elephant, usually found in Thailand; an albino elephant.

[Origin: 1850–55; from the perh. apocryphal tale that the King of Siam would award a disagreeable courtier a white elephant, the upkeep of which would ruin the courtier

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
white elephant

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

white elephant
n.

1. A rare, expensive possession that is a financial burden to maintain.
2. Something of dubious or limited value.
An article, ornament, or household utensil no longer wanted by its owner.
An endeavor or venture that proves to be a conspicuous failure.
A rare whitish or light-gray form of the Asian elephant, often regarded with special veneration in regions of southeast Asia and India.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
white elephant

1851, from supposed custom of the King of Siam in showing his disfavor of a courtier by giving him care of one of the sacred albino elephants, a high honor, but ruinously expensive.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

white elephant
noun
1.	a valuable possession whose upkeep is excessively expensive
2.	albinic Indian elephant; rare and sometimes venerated in east Asia

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
white elephant

a useless, unwanted possession

Arabic:	غَرَض غَيْر مُفيد وكَثير التَّكاليف
Chinese (Simplified):	无用的东西
Chinese (Traditional):	無用的東西
Czech:	zbytečná věc
Danish:	hvid elefant
Dutch:	sta©inªde©weg
Estonian:	nagu sangata kohver
Finnish:	turhuus
French:	objet superflu
German:	lästiger Besitz
Greek:	δώρον άδωρον
Hungarian:	egy nyűg (igen terjedelmes, haszontalan tárgy)
Icelandic:	gagnslítil eign
Indonesian:	benda tak berguna

Italian:	(oggetto superfluo)
Japanese:	もて余しもの
Latvian:	nevajadzīgs, *nederīgs īpašums
Lithuanian:	nereikalingas turtas, *daiktas
Norwegian:	unyttig (nips)gjenstand
Polish:	grat, nieprzydatny prezent
Portuguese (Brazil):	elefante branco
Romanian:	obiect de prisos
Russian:	обременительное имущество
Slovak:	príťaž, zbytočná vec
Slovenian:	nadležna posest
Spanish:	elefante blanco, maula
Swedish:	onödig lyx, ekonomisk belastning
Turkish:	bir işe yaramayan eşya

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
white elephant

An unwanted or financially burdensome possession, or a project that turns out to be of limited value: “The new office building turned out to be a white elephant once the company decided to move its headquarters.”

[Chapter:] Idioms

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

White elephant

White elephant\ Something requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit; any burdensome possession. [Slang]

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