徒劳无功 meaning in Chinese
prove futile; beat the air; be a wasted effort; burn daylight; carry coals to new castle; catch shadows; catch the wind in a net; come to naught; draw water in [with] a sieve; end in smoke; fish in the air; flog a dead horse; hold a candle to the sun; labor to no purpose; make a futile effort; make useless trouble; milk a hegoat; much ado about nothing; not to succeed after trying hard; paint the lily; plough [sow] the sands; plow the wave; use [exert] vain efforts; wasted effort; work in vain; work to no avail
Examples
- It is aimless to cast water into the sea .
投杯水于大海，徒劳无功。 - Her efforts were all useless .
她的努力全部徒劳无功。 - I had been stalling the diplomacy for nothing .
我在外交上所进行的拖延其实是徒劳无功的。 - It was the cold of his errand, a foot's errand .
这是因为这趟奔走肯定徒劳无功而感到发冷吧。 - While i was still vainly trying to establish order i heard a frightful yelling .
我正在徒劳无功地维持秩序，忽然听到一声可怕的喊叫。