beat a dead horse
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to continue trying to achieve something that is no longer possible
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
tiếp tục cố gắng đạt được điều gì đó không còn khả thi
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: hit a deceased equine repeatedly
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
We're beating a dead horse with this project, it's time to move on
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “beat a dead horse” mean?
to continue trying to achieve something that is no longer possible Literally: hit a deceased equine repeatedly
Is “beat a dead horse” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.