Dictionary

get blood out of a stone en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless.
   • "I suppose the law has some protection to offer them." "Can the law get blood out of a stone? I haven't any money. I've got about a hundred pounds." 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
   • Bradley looked at the fire, with a working face, and was silent for a while. At last he said, with what seemed an inconsistent composure of voice and feature: ‘You can’t get blood out of a stone, Riderhood.’ 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 15, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC:

Forms

Synonyms

get blood out of a turnip · pull teeth · get blood from a turnip · squeeze blood out of a turnip

Translations (9)

fi puristaa vettä kivestä (to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless) · es sacar água de las piedras (to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless) · it cavare sangue da una rapa (to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless) · pl wyciskać wodę z kamienia (to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless) · ko 하늘의 별 따기 (to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless) · pl wycisnąć wodę z kamienia (to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless) · fi yrittää muuttaa kiveä leiväksi (to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless) · de Blut aus einem Stein pressen (to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless) · pt tirar leite de pedra (to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless)