Beat one’s head against the wall
also, bang or run one’s head against or into a brick wall. waste one’s time in a hopeless enterprise, as in i have tried many times to convince him to stop smoking, but i’m beating my head against a brick wall. the metaphoric phrase alludes to a physical expression of frustration. [ late 1500s ]
also see: beat the air
Read Also:
- Beat one's meat
beat one’s meat verb phrase (variations: flog or pound may replace beat; dummy or log may replace meat) to m-st-rb-t- (1960s+)
- Beat one's way
beat one’s way verb phrase to travel without paying; travel in the cheapest possible way (1870s+)
- Beat poets
numerous u.s. poets concentrated in california in the 1950s and noted chiefly for their rejection of poetic as well as social conventions, exemplified through experimental, often informal phrasing and diction and formless verse that attempts to capture spontaneity of thought and feeling.
- Beat someone at his or her own game
surp-ss someone in his or her own specialty or undertaking. for example, jean knew that if she matched the new store’s discount she would keep all her customers and beat the new compet-tors at their own game. the use of game for any kind of undertaking or scheme dates from the mid-1200s.
- Beat someone in
beat someone in verb phrase to initiate someone into a gang by -ssaulting them: ”when you’re getting ‘beat in’ or ‘quoted’ ”, one female ”g” explained (1990s+ street gang)