Flogging a dead horse meaning
What does the saying 'Flogging a dead horse' mean?
Idiom: Flogging a dead horse
Meaning:
If someone is trying to convince people to do or feel something without any hope of succeeding, they're flogging a dead horse.
This is used when someone is trying to raise interest in an issue that no-one supports anymore; beating a dead horse will not make it do any more work.
Country: British English 
|
Subject Area: Animals |
Usage Type: Both or All Words Used
All idioms have been editorially reviewed, and submitted idioms may have been edited for correctness and completeness.
« Previous: Flirt with danger
Next: Flowery speech »
Similar Idioms
- Beating a dead horse
- Dead to the world
- Putting the cart before the horse
- Dead as a dodo
- Dark horse
- Dead men's shoes
- On your high horse
- Eat like a horse
- Dead heat
- Close the stable door after the horse has bolted
- Could eat a horse
- Back the wrong horse
- Dead in the water
- From the horse's mouth
- Horse of a different color
- Dead and buried
- Dead duck
- Horse trading
- Dead man walking
- Knock 'em dead
- Dead air
- Dead from the neck up
- Healthy as a horse
- Dead meat
- Over my dead body
- Put the carriage before the horse
- Stalking horse
- Short horse soon curried
- Dead even
- Dead wrong
- Dead level best
- Charley horse
- Dead cat bounce
- Dead as a doornail
- Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
- Lock the stable door after the horse has bolted
- Stone dead
- You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink
- Dead right
- Get back on the horse that bucked you
- There's a dead cat on the line
Idiom eBooks from UsingEnglish.com
Download our curated lists of idioms in PDF format - perfect to use offline for reference or for use in class!
If you have a question about idioms, ask us about it in our Idioms Discussion Forum.
If you know of an idiom that you would like to be listed here, please use our online form to suggest an idiom.
See also:
- View examples in Google: Flogging a dead horse
- Idiom Quizzes