flog a dead horse

• beat a dead horse
• flog a dead pony

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flog a dead horse (third-person singular simple present flogs a dead horse, present participle flogging a dead horse, simple past and past participle flogged a dead horse)

1. (British, idiomatic) To attempt to get more out of something that cannot give more; to attempt to arouse fresh interest in something that is either hopeless or already settled.
2. (dated, nautical) To attempt to get extra work out of a ship's crew during the dead horse period.

• spit in the wind

• necrohippoflagellation
• necrohipposadism