English Explanatory Dictionary

carry coals to Newcastle

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To do something that is unneeded or redundant.

Pronunciation

en-au-carry coals to Newcastle.ogg

Word forms

carry coals to Newcastle carries coals to Newcastle carrying coals to Newcastle carried coals to Newcastle bring coals to Newcastle sell coal to Newcastle sell coals to Newcastle take coals to Newcastle

Etymology

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

Synonyms

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

Related words

busman's holiday
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on C Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary