flog a dead horse
UK informalDefinition
› to waste effort on something when there is no chance of succeeding: He keeps trying to get it published but I think he's flogging a dead horse.Failing and doing badly
(Definition of flog a dead horse from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
Browse related topics
You are looking at an entry to do with Failing and doing badly, but you might be interested in these topics from the Doing and achieving topic area:
- Abstaining and refraining
- Acting and acts
- Avoiding action
- Becoming better
- Cancelling and interrupting
- Competing and contending (non-sporting)
- Coping and not coping
- Delaying and wasting time
- Describing the leading position
- Efficient and effective
- Expressions telling people to hurry up
- Failures
- Getting involved for one's own benefit or against others' will
- Hesitating
- Higher and lower points of achievement
- Hurrying and doing things quickly
- Making progress and advancing
- Making things better
- Performing a function
- Potential
- Reacting and responding
- Repeating an action
- Succeeding, achieving and fulfilling
- Success and achievements
- Successful (things or people)
- Surpassing in quality or number
- Taking part and getting involved
- Trying and making an effort
- Unsuccessful (people and things)
- Waiting
- Ways of achieving things
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Synonyms and related words:
- backfire verb (BAD RESULT)
- be running on empty idiom
- beta male noun
- blow it idiom
- bodge noun, verb
- boomerang verb
- botch verb
- choke verb (FAIL)
- come to sth phrasal verb (REACH)
- flop verb (FAIL)
- fluff verb
- flunk out phrasal verb
- fray around/at the edges idiom
- fumble verb (SPORT)
- get off on the right/wrong foot idiom
- muff verb
- neglect verb
- not last long idiom
- overreach verb
- pale into insignificance idiom
Topic:
Failing and doing badly
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