fight a losing battle

fight a losing battle
be fated to fail in one's efforts

he was fighting a losing battle to stem the tears

* * *

fight a ˌlosing ˈbattle f30 idiom
to try to do sth that you will probably never succeed in doing

I'm fighting a losing battle against the mess in this house!

Main entry:fightidiom

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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  • fight a losing battle — to try hard but fail. For years it seems we have been fighting a losing battle against poverty and hunger. In an old house, you re always fighting a losing battle with dust and dirt. Usage notes: sometimes used without fight: Many teachers feel… …   New idioms dictionary

  • fight a losing battle —    If someone is fighting a losing battle, they are trying to do something even when there is little chance of succeeding.     The headmaster is fighting a losing battle trying to ban mobile phones at school …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • fighting a losing battle — phrase trying to achieve something that you will probably not be able to achieve Police are fighting a losing battle against the rising crime rate. Thesaurus: likely to failsynonym Main entry: fight …   Useful english dictionary

  • fight — fight1 W1S1 [faıt] v past tense and past participle fought [fo:t US fo:t] ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(war)¦ 2¦(hit people)¦ 3¦(try to do something)¦ 4¦(prevent something)¦ 5¦(compete)¦ 6¦(argue)¦ 7¦(sport)¦ 8¦(emotion)¦ 9¦(law)¦ …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • fight — 1 /faIt/ past tense and past participle fought verb 1 WAR (I, T) to take part in a war or battle: Did your Uncle fight in the last war? | fight sb: Vietnam fought France and then the US over 30 years. (+ against/with): He fought against the… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • battle — 1 noun (C) 1 BETWEEN ARMIES a fight between opposing armies, groups of ships etc, especially one that is part of a larger war: the Battle of Trafalgar | in/into battle: Her son was killed in battle. | sending troops into battle 2 BETWEEN… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • battle — bat|tle1 [ bætl ] noun *** 1. ) count or uncount a fight between two armies in a war: one of the bloodiest battles of World War II battle of: the Battle of Waterloo in battle: soldiers wounded in battle a ) count a fight between two groups of… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • fight — [[t]fa͟ɪt[/t]] ♦ fights, fighting, fought 1) VERB If you fight something unpleasant, you try in a determined way to prevent it or stop it happening. [V n] Mother Teresa is an elderly nun who has devoted her life to fighting poverty... [V n] More… …   English dictionary

  • battle — I UK [ˈbæt(ə)l] / US noun Word forms battle : singular battle plural battles *** 1) a) [countable/uncountable] a fight between two armies in a war one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War battle of: the Battle of Waterloo in battle:… …   English dictionary

  • Battle Club (manga) — Infobox animanga/Header name = Battle Club caption = Cover of Battle Club Volume 1 ja name = バトルクラブ ja name trans = Batoru Kurabu genre = Martial artsInfobox animanga/Manga title = Battle Club author = Yuji Shiozaki publisher = Shōnen Gahosha… …   Wikipedia

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