1. Also: ВИДАТЬ (ВИДЫВАТЬ) ВСЯКИЕ ВИДЫ
subj: human often active past Part) to have experienced much in life, endured various troubles
X видал виды - X has been through plenty (in his time (life, lifetime))
X has seen much (a great deal, a lot) in his time (day, life, lifetime)
X has seen all sorts (kinds) of things (in his time etc)
X has been through the mill
X has been around (around the block)
X is schooled in the ways of the world
видавший виды — seasoned
battle-scarred.
Фомин с силой сжал ногами бока коня, послал его в толпу. Народ шарахнулся в разные стороны. В широком кругу осталась одна вдова. Она видала всякие виды и потому спокойно глядела на оскаленную морду фоминского коня, на бледное от бешенства лицо всадника (Шолохов 5). Fomin dug his heels into his horse's flanks and rode into the crowd It drew back, leaving only the widow in the middle of a wide circle. She had seen much in her time, so she looked up imperturbably at the horse's bared teeth and the furious face of its rider (5a).
Они слушали неумолчную трескотню словоохотливой и видавшей виды девушки (Пастернак 1). .. .They listened to the incessant chatter of the garrulous girl, who had seen a great deal in her life (1a)
У Моей был неистовый темперамент южанина и не вполне безукоризненная биография мальчишки, видавшего за свои двадцать три года всякие виды (Катаев 1). Mosya had the violent temperament of a southerner, and the not entirely faultless biography of a gamin who had seen all sorts of things in the course of his twenty-three years (1a).
. ..Кирпиченко вдруг увидел, что ей (Ларисе) под тридцать, что она видала виды (Аксёнов 5). ...Kirpichenko suddenly saw that she (Larisa) was getting on for thirty and that she had been around (5a).
И кому-то нужно с таким человеком (, как Никандров,) связываться?.. Видавшие виды дамы просто обязаны предупреждать молодёжь женского пола: «И не вздумайте! Кроме головной боли, ничего не маячит!» (Залыгин 1). Who needed to get involved with a man like him (Nikandrov)? Seasoned women had a duty to warn the younger of their sex about men like him: "Don't even think about it! You'll get yourself nothing but a headache!" (1a).
2. ( subj: concr) (of various devices, machines etc, often of furniture, clothes, footwear etc) to have been used a great deal, show signs of much wear
X видал виды - X looks (is) the worse for wear
X has seen better days
X is timeworn (worn-out, well-worn, shabby).Большой русско-английский фразеологический словарь. — М.: ACT-ПРЕСС КНИГА. С.И. Лубенская. 2004.