"eat an elephant one bite at a time" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "eats an elephant one bite at a time",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "eating an elephant one bite at a time",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ate an elephant one bite at a time",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "eaten an elephant one bite at a time",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "eat<,,ate,eaten> an elephant one bite at a time"
      },
      "expansion": "eat an elephant one bite at a time (third-person singular simple present eats an elephant one bite at a time, present participle eating an elephant one bite at a time, simple past ate an elephant one bite at a time, past participle eaten an elephant one bite at a time)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To do something one step at a time; to do something in steps rather than all at once."
      ],
      "id": "en-eat_an_elephant_one_bite_at_a_time-en-verb-shtnR0OC",
      "links": [
        [
          "step",
          "step#English"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "chiefly proverb",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, chiefly proverb) To do something one step at a time; to do something in steps rather than all at once."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "bite off more than one can chew"
        },
        {
          "word": "Rome wasn't built in a day"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "eat the elephant one bite at a time"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-eat an elephant one bite at a time.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-eat_an_elephant_one_bite_at_a_time.ogg/En-au-eat_an_elephant_one_bite_at_a_time.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-eat_an_elephant_one_bite_at_a_time.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "eat an elephant one bite at a time"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "eats an elephant one bite at a time",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "eating an elephant one bite at a time",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ate an elephant one bite at a time",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "eaten an elephant one bite at a time",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "eat<,,ate,eaten> an elephant one bite at a time"
      },
      "expansion": "eat an elephant one bite at a time (third-person singular simple present eats an elephant one bite at a time, present participle eating an elephant one bite at a time, simple past ate an elephant one bite at a time, past participle eaten an elephant one bite at a time)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "bite off more than one can chew"
    },
    {
      "word": "Rome wasn't built in a day"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To do something one step at a time; to do something in steps rather than all at once."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "step",
          "step#English"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "chiefly proverb",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, chiefly proverb) To do something one step at a time; to do something in steps rather than all at once."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-eat an elephant one bite at a time.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-eat_an_elephant_one_bite_at_a_time.ogg/En-au-eat_an_elephant_one_bite_at_a_time.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-eat_an_elephant_one_bite_at_a_time.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "eat the elephant one bite at a time"
    }
  ],
  "word": "eat an elephant one bite at a time"
}