to feel upset or regretful about something that has already happened and cannot be undone

to do good things and waste valuable resources for ungrateful people

(of a business) to reach a point that yields no success due to the profit being almost as equal as the costs

to try hard yet achieve very little or nothing at all

to avoid wasting one's time and energy by not trying to persuade or convince someone who is unlikely to change their opinion or behavior

to try to prevent something bad from happening after it has already happened

the point or situation from which one starts to do something

used when one has to return to the beginning of a process and redo the process after one's effort has failed

from one place or situation to another without a clear purpose or direction, often in a chaotic or haphazard manner

to unnecessarily adorn or decorate something that is already beautiful or perfect

a point where it is unlikely or too difficult to make any progress

to take part in a protest that has no chance of reaching success

to make a wrong decision about how to achieve or deal with something

to waste one's time and energy for something that has no chance of achieving success or yeilds no profit

to do something that is considered to be redundant or useless

to go through a series of efforts or actions only to end up back where one started, highlighting the lack of progress or meaningful change

the act of going back and forth between two places or doing something repeatedly without making much progress

used to refer to a task that is s very difficult or impossible to do

used when someone is doing something that is pointless or ineffective

used to describe a frustrating or unproductive conversation with someone who is unresponsive or uninterested

the outcome or reward of a task is not worth the effort or resources required to achieve it

to fail to make any progress in a job or task