English Explanatory Dictionary

like painting the Forth Bridge

English dictionary entry

Meanings

prep_phrase
  1. Never-ending; said of a task which will never be completed due to the perpetual cycle of having to recommence as soon as one has reached the end, or of efforts that are in vain because of this.

Word forms

like painting the Forth Bridge

Etymology

The bridge across the Firth of Forth was in a continuous state of being painted (until finished in 2011, 122 years after its completion): (owing to its large size) as soon as one end was reached, it was time to begin all over again.

Synonyms

Sisyphean
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 L Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary