| 单词 | to thrash straw |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto thrash (over) straw P1. to thrash (over) straw and variants: to work at something that is unproductive or unprofitable; to revisit or spend more time on something that has already been resolved or completed. Cf. to thresh (over) straw at thresh v. Phrases 2. Now rare. ΚΠ 1846 Leeds Times 28 Feb. 4/2 It is astonishing how long and how loud these members talk; thrashing straw a thousand times thrashed, and extracting never a grain of wheat more. 1850 A. Swanwick tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust in tr. Dramatic Wks. 55 Leave it to neighbour Paunch;—withdraw. Why plague yourself with thrashing straw? 1895 P. Benjamin Intellect. Rise Electr. xiv. 470 The very few examples that are recorded merely thrash over old straw. 1949 Spectator 16 Sept. 360/2 In telling that story and discussing its bearing on the rise of our democracy.., Dr. Townsend is not thrashing straw. < as lemmas |
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