elephant
Word family nounelephantiasiselephantadjectiveelephantineelephantoid
Animals
el·e·phant /ˈeləfənt/ ●●● W3 noun [countableC] 1. 
HBAa very large grey animal with four legs, two tusks (=long curved teeth) and a trunk (=long nose) that it can use to pick things up 象
HBAa very large grey animal with four legs, two tusks (=long curved teeth) and a trunk (=long nose) that it can use to pick things up 象2 the elephant in the (living) room an important subject or problem that everyone knows about but no one mentions 众所周知却被刻意回避的问题
→ white elephant The race issue is the elephant in the room in this election.
在这次选举中，重要的种族问题被刻意回避了。
Examples from the Corpus
elephant• He rode on an elephant and on the Ferris wheel, taking only Amelia with him.• Each elephant is caparisoned in glittering gold, red, silver or blue cloth, studded with brilliants and lit with lamps.• Archaeologists divide the early inhabitants into elephant hunters and bison hunters.• The explosions started as soon as the last elephant had shuffled out of sight.• It looked like a place where the elephants came to die.• These countries are able to practise open trading because their elephant herds are now big enough to demand regular culling.• His agents within the Imperial army managed to assassinate three of Dara's generals as they sat exposed on their elephants.
(1200-1300) Old French oliphant, from Greek elephas “elephant, ivory”