English · Idiom Candidate

spit in the ocean

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To make a very small contribution to a large problem

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

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Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: spitting into the ocean

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Donating a dollar to a billion-dollar fundraiser is like spitting in the ocean

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 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Sea & boats

Common questions

What does “spit in the ocean” mean?

To make a very small contribution to a large problem Literally: spitting into the ocean

Is “spit in the ocean” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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