flog a dead horse

English

Alternative forms

• beat a dead horse

Verb

flog a dead horse

1. (dated, nautical) To attempt to get extra work out of a ship's crew during the dead horse period.
2. (UK, idiomatic) To attempt to get more out of something that cannot give more.

Translations

to attempt to get more out of something that cannot give more

• Estonian: surnud hobust peksta (et)
• Finnish: piiskata kuollutta hevosta (fi)

• German: auf etwas herumreiten; seine Zeit verschwenden, sich vergeblich bemühen
• Russian: решетом воду носить (ru) (rešetóm vódu nosítʹ) (carry water in a sieve)