beat the air



beat the air

Also, beat the wind. Continue to make futile attempts, fight to no purpose. For example, The candidates for office were so much alike that we thought our vote amounted to beating the air . These phrases call up a vivid image of someone flailing away at nothing. [Late 1300s]
See also: air, beat

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Pansy['pænzi]
Hadas-Hebrew
Hr&Oelig;Rekr-Ancient Scandinavian
Toros-Armenian
MajorMAY-jərEnglish
Mariema-REE (French), mah-REE (German)French, Czech, German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish