flog a dead horse
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Waste energy on a lost cause.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Glitter is Dot Cotton in foot - thick panstick, flogging a dead horse until its bones are a pile of dust.
If something is carried on then it is flogging a dead horse or blind ambition.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Euphemism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “flog a dead horse” mean?
Waste energy on a lost cause.
Is “flog a dead horse” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.