"see the elephant" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sees the elephant",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "seeing the elephant",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "saw the elephant",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "seen the elephant",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "see<,,saw,seen> the elephant"
      },
      "expansion": "see the elephant (third-person singular simple present sees the elephant, present participle seeing the elephant, simple past saw the elephant, past participle seen the elephant)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To witness something unexpected and awe-inspiring."
      ],
      "id": "en-see_the_elephant-en-verb-GzFwCuwd",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, obsolete, slang) To witness something unexpected and awe-inspiring."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "obsolete",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "23 51 21 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1846, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, page 338",
          "text": "\"[W]hy he's a natural born carakter. He is the best hand at a yarn in all west country, and will whip more cats, tell more lies, and eat more pork, than any fellow in Texas. […] [H]e's rare, jist the chap, and no mistake. He's seen the elephant, I imagine, a little more nor twice, I expect.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be up to the latest moves; to be knowing and worldly."
      ],
      "id": "en-see_the_elephant-en-verb-4fBnfm3n",
      "links": [
        [
          "knowing",
          "knowing"
        ],
        [
          "worldly",
          "worldly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, obsolete, slang) To be up to the latest moves; to be knowing and worldly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "obsolete",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To witness or participate in a battle."
      ],
      "id": "en-see_the_elephant-en-verb-XHGqTWdX",
      "links": [
        [
          "battle",
          "battle"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "American Civil War",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, American Civil War, slang) To witness or participate in a battle."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see see, the, elephant."
      ],
      "id": "en-see_the_elephant-en-verb-NvcGR0dO",
      "links": [
        [
          "see",
          "see#English"
        ],
        [
          "the",
          "the#English"
        ],
        [
          "elephant",
          "elephant#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-see the elephant.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/fb/En-au-see_the_elephant.ogg/En-au-see_the_elephant.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/En-au-see_the_elephant.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "see the elephant"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sees the elephant",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "seeing the elephant",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "saw the elephant",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "seen the elephant",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "see<,,saw,seen> the elephant"
      },
      "expansion": "see the elephant (third-person singular simple present sees the elephant, present participle seeing the elephant, simple past saw the elephant, past participle seen the elephant)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To witness something unexpected and awe-inspiring."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, obsolete, slang) To witness something unexpected and awe-inspiring."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "obsolete",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with obsolete senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1846, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, page 338",
          "text": "\"[W]hy he's a natural born carakter. He is the best hand at a yarn in all west country, and will whip more cats, tell more lies, and eat more pork, than any fellow in Texas. […] [H]e's rare, jist the chap, and no mistake. He's seen the elephant, I imagine, a little more nor twice, I expect.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be up to the latest moves; to be knowing and worldly."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "knowing",
          "knowing"
        ],
        [
          "worldly",
          "worldly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, obsolete, slang) To be up to the latest moves; to be knowing and worldly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "obsolete",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To witness or participate in a battle."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "battle",
          "battle"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "American Civil War",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, American Civil War, slang) To witness or participate in a battle."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see see, the, elephant."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "see",
          "see#English"
        ],
        [
          "the",
          "the#English"
        ],
        [
          "elephant",
          "elephant#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-see the elephant.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/fb/En-au-see_the_elephant.ogg/En-au-see_the_elephant.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/En-au-see_the_elephant.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "see the elephant"
}