Beating a dead horse Тратить впустую время, делать пустые попытки; толочь воду в ступе. He keeps trying to get it published but I think he's beating a dead horse. You’re beating a dead horse trying to persuade him to come with us – he hates going out at night. The teacher was beating a dead horse when he lectured the students about the dangers of too much technology – they were glued to their smartphones while he spoke.