get blood out of a stone

English

Alternative forms

• get blood from a stone, get blood from a turnip, get blood out of a turnip, squeeze blood out of a turnip

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

get blood out of a stone (third-person singular simple present gets blood out of a stone, present participle getting blood out of a stone, simple past got blood out of a stone, past participle (UK) got blood out of a stone or (US) gotten blood out of a stone)

1. (idiomatic) To do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless.

   Convincing fussy eaters to try new foods is like trying to get blood out of a stone.

   • 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 15, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC:

     Bradley looked at the fire, with a working face, and was silent for a while. At last he said, with what seemed an inconsistent composure of voice and feature: ‘You can’t get blood out of a stone, Riderhood.’

   • 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:

     "I suppose the law has some protection to offer them."
     "Can the law get blood out of a stone? I haven't any money. I've got about a hundred pounds."

Usage notes

• Often found in the proverbial form: You can't get blood out of a stone.

Synonyms

• pull teeth

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: puristaa kivestä vettä, yrittää muuttaa kiveä leiväksi
• Italian: cavare sangue da una rapa
• Polish: wyciskać wodę z kamienia impf, wycisnąć wodę z kamienia pf
• Portuguese: tirar leite de pedra (pt)