To do something that is unneeded or redundant.
1851 However curious it may seem for an oil-ship to be borrowing oil on the whale-ground, and however much it may invertedly contradict the old proverb about carrying coals to Newcastle, yet sometimes such a thing really happens; and in the present case Captain Derick De Deer did indubitably conduct a lamp-feeder as Flask did declare. — Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 81..
To bring extra, to do anything pointless and needless
Teaching a teacher is like carrying coals to Newcastle.
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Nearby phrases
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"Carry Coals to Newcastle." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/idioms/Carry-Coals-to-Newcastle>.
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