Dictionary

carry coals to Newcastle en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Newcastle upon Tyne (in England) was a major coal-exporting city, so sending coal there would be pointless.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To do something that is unneeded or redundant.
   • However curious it may seem for an oil-ship to be borrowing oil on the whale-ground, and however much it may invertedly contradict the old proverb about carrying coals to Newcastle, yet sometimes such a thing really happens; and in the present case Captain Derick De Deer did indubitably conduct a lamp-feeder as Flask did declare. 1851, Herman Melville, chapter 81, in Moby-Dick:
   • He's the fellow who likes to let off stink bombs in night clubs, which rather falls under the head of carrying coals to Newcastle […] 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter II, in Jeeves in the Offing:

Forms

Coordinates

preach to the choir

Relateds

busman's holiday

Synonyms

bring owls to Athens · sell ice to Eskimos · bring sand to the beach

Translations (46)

es llevar leña al monte (do something unneeded or redundant) · ca portar aigua al mar (do something unneeded or redundant) · cmn 多此一舉 /多此一举 (do something unneeded or redundant) · es llevar hierro a Vizcaya (do something unneeded or redundant) · ga beir liúdar go Toraigh (do something unneeded or redundant) · sl zlivati vodo v morje (do something unneeded or redundant) · et kilplasetööd tegema (do something unneeded or redundant) · sk nosiť sovy do Atén (do something unneeded or redundant) · sv bära ugglor till Aten (do something unneeded or redundant) · cs nosit dříví do lesa (do something unneeded or redundant) · eo porti akvon al rivero (do something unneeded or redundant) · pl wozić drewno do lasu (do something unneeded or redundant) · grc γλαῦκ’ εἰς Ἀθήνας (do something unneeded or redundant) · de Eulen nach Athen tragen (do something unneeded or redundant) · nb gå over bekken etter vann (do something unneeded or redundant) · tr denize su götürmek (do something unneeded or redundant) · gd thoir eich a dh'Innse Gall (do something unneeded or redundant) · nl water naar de zee dragen (do something unneeded or redundant) · vi dã tràng xe cát (do something unneeded or redundant) · sk voziť drevo do hory (do something unneeded or redundant) · fr porter de l'eau à la rivière (do something unneeded or redundant) · la in silvam ligna ferō (do something unneeded or redundant) · gd thoir fiodhrach do Loch Abar (do something unneeded or redundant) · cs nosit sovy do Atén (do something unneeded or redundant) · da give bagerbørn hvedebrød (do something unneeded or redundant) · cmn 脫褲子放屁 /脱裤子放屁 (do something unneeded or redundant) · pt chover no molhado (do something unneeded or redundant) · fi kantaa vettä kaivoon (do something unneeded or redundant) · de Wasser ins Meer tragen (do something unneeded or redundant) · vi chở củi về rừng (do something unneeded or redundant) · ja 無駄骨を折る (do something unneeded or redundant) · ast llevar fierro a Bilbao (do something unneeded or redundant) · nn gje brød til bakaren sine born (do something unneeded or redundant) · hu vizet hord a Dunába (do something unneeded or redundant) · cy cario glo i Fflint (do something unneeded or redundant) · eo porti strigojn al Ateno (do something unneeded or redundant) · pt levar água ao mar (do something unneeded or redundant) · nb gi bakerens barn brød (do something unneeded or redundant) · vi dã tràng xe cát biển Đông (do something unneeded or redundant) · is bera í bakkafullan lækinn (do something unneeded or redundant) · ga cuimil saille ar thóin na muice méithe (do something unneeded or redundant) · it portare civette ad Atene (do something unneeded or redundant) · de Holz in den Wald tragen (do something unneeded or redundant) · it portare nottole ad Atene (do something unneeded or redundant) · it portare vasi a Samo (do something unneeded or redundant) · nl uilen naar Athene dragen (do something unneeded or redundant)