сражаться с ветряными мельницами (srazhat'sya s vetryanymi mel'nitsami)

Meaning: To struggle against imaginary or futile enemies; to waste effort on impossible causes.

Language: Russian

Literally: to fight with windmills

Category: The Absurd

Origin: From Miguel de Cervantes' *Don Quixote* (1605), where the deluded protagonist attacks windmills believing them to be giants.

More idioms — The Absurd

полтора землекопа (poltora zemlyekopa) — An absurdly small group; a nonsensical quantity that defies rational measure.
на честном слове и на одном крыле (na chestnom slove i na odnom kryle) — Succeeding or surviving by the barest margin, through luck or desperation rather than sol…
ври больше (vri bolshe) — An expression of dismissive disbelief; an ironical way of saying someone's story is uncon…
пускаться во все тяжкие (puskat'sya vo vse tyazhkiye) — To abandon restraint and indulge recklessly in vices or wrongdoing without scruple.
хоть ложись и умирай (hot' lozhis' i umiray) — There is no escape or solution; one must accept an impossible or desperate situation.
хоть убей (khot' ubey) — For the life of me; under no circumstances or condition could one do something.

ходить вокруг да около (khodit' vokrug da okolo) — To avoid speaking plainly; to approach a subject indirectly or evasively.
гнать в три шеи (gnat' v tri shei) — To expel or drive someone away forcefully and without ceremony.
язык проглотил (yazyk proglotil) — To be unable or unwilling to speak; to remain silent when words are called for.
метать бисер перед свиньями (metat' biser pered svin'yami) — To offer something precious or refined to someone incapable of appreciating it.
сушить сухари (sushit' sukhari) — To prepare oneself mentally and materially for imprisonment or arrest.
отбросить копыта (otbrosit' kopyta) — To die, to kick the bucket.

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