MEANING
To waste effort continuing with something that has no realistic chance of succeeding.
Use it for
criticizing futile persistence; describing repeated pressure after a matter is settled; showing effort spent on an exhausted proposal; distinguishing determination from pointless repetitionDistinguishes persistence that has no realistic prospect of success from productive determination. Writing functions: Futile persistence.
Words that belong together
- keep flogging a dead horse
- stop flogging a dead horse
On the page
Once the building was sold, arguing for the original venue was flogging a dead horse.
She wondered whether another appeal would help or whether they were flogging a dead horse.
Word forms
- Base
- flog a dead horse
Usage notes
Verbal idiom: flog/flogs/flogged/flogging a dead horse. British expression; American English commonly beat a dead horse. Register: informal. Commonness: common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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