"pound sand" meaning in English

See pound sand in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-pound sand.ogg [Australia] Forms: pounds sand [present, singular, third-person], pounding sand [participle, present], pounded sand [participle, past], pounded sand [past]
Etymology: Probably originating as a mild insult, as the act of pounding sand is considered not only to be a menial task, but also one which causes no fruition, therefore suggesting those who perform it are somehow hopelessly mentally impaired. Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} pound sand (third-person singular simple present pounds sand, present participle pounding sand, simple past and past participle pounded sand)
  1. (idiomatic) To engage in a futile activity. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms (do something futile): get blood from a stone, piss up a rope
    Sense id: en-pound_sand-en-verb-u~FeAb7H Disambiguation of 'do something futile': 95 5
  2. (idiomatic, dismissal) To go away; get lost; go to hell. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms (go away): get lost, go fly a kite, take a hike, fuck off
    Sense id: en-pound_sand-en-verb-AyFxR15q Categories (other): English dismissals, English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 41 59 Disambiguation of 'go away': 0 100
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: pound dirt, pound salt, pound sand into a rathole Related terms: enough sense to pound sand into a rathole

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for pound sand meaning in English (3.3kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "Probably originating as a mild insult, as the act of pounding sand is considered not only to be a menial task, but also one which causes no fruition, therefore suggesting those who perform it are somehow hopelessly mentally impaired.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pounds sand",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pounding sand",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pounded sand",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pounded sand",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "pound sand (third-person singular simple present pounds sand, present participle pounding sand, simple past and past participle pounded sand)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "enough sense to pound sand into a rathole"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2010, Eric Blehm, The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan, HarperCollins, published 2010, page 44",
          "text": "[…] Without men on the ground, we'll be pounding sand.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown: A Memoir",
          "text": "He told Shelton we needed to \"unleash holy hell.\" “We're not just going to pound sand,” he added.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To engage in a futile activity."
      ],
      "id": "en-pound_sand-en-verb-u~FeAb7H",
      "links": [
        [
          "futile",
          "futile"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To engage in a futile activity."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "sense": "do something futile",
          "word": "get blood from a stone"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "95 5",
          "sense": "do something futile",
          "word": "piss up a rope"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English dismissals",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 59",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003 March 15, Christopher Koch, “Showdown at the 6.0 Corral”, in CIO",
          "text": "The price to us was going to be $3 million, and we had four months to pay before the Licensing 6.0 deadline. We told Microsoft to go pound sand.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To go away; get lost; go to hell."
      ],
      "id": "en-pound_sand-en-verb-AyFxR15q",
      "links": [
        [
          "dismissal",
          "dismissal"
        ],
        [
          "go away",
          "go away"
        ],
        [
          "get lost",
          "get lost"
        ],
        [
          "go to hell",
          "go to hell"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "dismissal",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, dismissal) To go away; get lost; go to hell."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "sense": "go away",
          "word": "get lost"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "sense": "go away",
          "word": "go fly a kite"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "sense": "go away",
          "word": "take a hike"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "sense": "go away",
          "word": "fuck off"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-pound sand.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/de/En-au-pound_sand.ogg/En-au-pound_sand.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/En-au-pound_sand.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "pound dirt"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "pound salt"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "pound sand into a rathole"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pound sand"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Probably originating as a mild insult, as the act of pounding sand is considered not only to be a menial task, but also one which causes no fruition, therefore suggesting those who perform it are somehow hopelessly mentally impaired.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pounds sand",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pounding sand",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pounded sand",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pounded sand",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "pound sand (third-person singular simple present pounds sand, present participle pounding sand, simple past and past participle pounded sand)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "enough sense to pound sand into a rathole"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2010, Eric Blehm, The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan, HarperCollins, published 2010, page 44",
          "text": "[…] Without men on the ground, we'll be pounding sand.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown: A Memoir",
          "text": "He told Shelton we needed to \"unleash holy hell.\" “We're not just going to pound sand,” he added.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To engage in a futile activity."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "futile",
          "futile"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To engage in a futile activity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dismissals",
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003 March 15, Christopher Koch, “Showdown at the 6.0 Corral”, in CIO",
          "text": "The price to us was going to be $3 million, and we had four months to pay before the Licensing 6.0 deadline. We told Microsoft to go pound sand.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To go away; get lost; go to hell."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "dismissal",
          "dismissal"
        ],
        [
          "go away",
          "go away"
        ],
        [
          "get lost",
          "get lost"
        ],
        [
          "go to hell",
          "go to hell"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "dismissal",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, dismissal) To go away; get lost; go to hell."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-pound sand.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/de/En-au-pound_sand.ogg/En-au-pound_sand.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/En-au-pound_sand.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "do something futile",
      "word": "get blood from a stone"
    },
    {
      "sense": "do something futile",
      "word": "piss up a rope"
    },
    {
      "sense": "go away",
      "word": "get lost"
    },
    {
      "sense": "go away",
      "word": "go fly a kite"
    },
    {
      "sense": "go away",
      "word": "take a hike"
    },
    {
      "sense": "go away",
      "word": "fuck off"
    },
    {
      "word": "pound dirt"
    },
    {
      "word": "pound salt"
    },
    {
      "word": "pound sand into a rathole"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pound sand"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.