"flog a dead pony" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "flogs a dead pony",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flogging a dead pony",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flogged a dead pony",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flogged a dead pony",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "flog a dead pony (third-person singular simple present flogs a dead pony, present participle flogging a dead pony, simple past and past participle flogged a dead pony)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1994 August 17, Lois-ellin Datta, A Matter of Consensus (Working Paper), Washington: US Dept. of Education, →OCLC, ERIC ED379290, page 15:",
          "text": "[…] much greater impact on actual practice when the topic wasn't flogging a dead pony (advocating a change already wide-spread) […]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Sharron McClellan, The Midas Trap, New York: Silhouette Bombshell, →ISBN, page 23:",
          "text": "Now was not the time to lose her temper. He was baiting her, and going over the Brazil incident was like flogging a dead pony. She was tired and the pony was past caring.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To attempt to get more out of something that cannot give more; to attempt to arouse fresh interest in something that is either hopeless or already settled."
      ],
      "id": "en-flog_a_dead_pony-en-verb-aeMOFDQR",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To attempt to get more out of something that cannot give more; to attempt to arouse fresh interest in something that is either hopeless or already settled."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "beat a dead horse"
        },
        {
          "word": "flog a dead horse"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "flog a dead pony"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "flogs a dead pony",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flogging a dead pony",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flogged a dead pony",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flogged a dead pony",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "flog a dead pony (third-person singular simple present flogs a dead pony, present participle flogging a dead pony, simple past and past participle flogged a dead pony)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1994 August 17, Lois-ellin Datta, A Matter of Consensus (Working Paper), Washington: US Dept. of Education, →OCLC, ERIC ED379290, page 15:",
          "text": "[…] much greater impact on actual practice when the topic wasn't flogging a dead pony (advocating a change already wide-spread) […]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Sharron McClellan, The Midas Trap, New York: Silhouette Bombshell, →ISBN, page 23:",
          "text": "Now was not the time to lose her temper. He was baiting her, and going over the Brazil incident was like flogging a dead pony. She was tired and the pony was past caring.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To attempt to get more out of something that cannot give more; to attempt to arouse fresh interest in something that is either hopeless or already settled."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To attempt to get more out of something that cannot give more; to attempt to arouse fresh interest in something that is either hopeless or already settled."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "beat a dead horse"
        },
        {
          "word": "flog a dead horse"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "flog a dead pony"
}