verb phrase🎓 English idiom

beat a dead horse

to keep pursuing a hopeless or settled matter

What it means

To waste effort continuing to argue or pursue something that is already settled, decided, or hopeless. It implies the matter is finished and further attention is pointless.

Examples

  • The vote is over, so stop beating a dead horse about it.
  • I know you disagree, but you're beating a dead horse now.
  • Bringing up his old mistake again is just beating a dead horse.
  • We've decided on the design — let's not beat a dead horse.

Where it comes from

A 19th-century expression, popularised in British politics, from the futile image of whipping a horse that is already dead and cannot be made to move.

Related idioms

#barking up the wrong tree#cry over spilled milk#let sleeping dogs lie#a long shot

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