Rate this phrase:3.7 / 3 votes

beat a dead horse

To persist or continue far beyond any purpose, interest or reason.

Etymology:

  • It is a very old idiom that originated in the Roman Empire. Plautus was the first one to use this term in one of his acts. In a live performance, he was whipping a dead horse. He was trying to get horse up to get up, move and carry the load for him. Actually, this action gave the viewers an idea about certain conditions and efforts that lead towards nowhere.
572 Views

After having shown us three hours of instructional and safety videos, the inspector was simply beating a dead horse by telling us to buckle up as we got into the van.

Submitted on September 01, 2009

Modified by TriplePurple on April 11, 2024

Translation

Find a translation for the beat a dead horse phrase in other languages:

एक मरा हुआ घोड़ा मारो

slå en död häst

இறந்த குதிரையை வெல்லுங்கள்

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to beat a dead horse

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this beat a dead horse phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this beat a dead horse definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "beat a dead horse." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/beat-a-dead-horse_2282>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    She always seems to have the _______ laugh.
    A best
    B quickest
    C first
    D last