- carry coals to Newcastle
- take an unnecessary item to an area where it is already plentiful (such as taking ice to Antarctica)
English contemporary dictionary. 2014.
carry coals to Newcastle
Look at other dictionaries:
carry coals to Newcastle — To take a thing where it is already most abundant • • • Main Entry: ↑coal * * * carry/take/coals to Newcastle british phrase to supply something to a place or person when they do not need it because they have a lot of it already Thesaurus … Useful english dictionary
carry coals to Newcastle — {v. phr.} To do something unnecessary; bring or furnish something of which there is plenty. * /The man who waters his grass after a good rain is carrying coals to Newcastle./ * /Joe was carrying coals to Newcastle when he told the doctor how to… … Dictionary of American idioms
carry coals to Newcastle — {v. phr.} To do something unnecessary; bring or furnish something of which there is plenty. * /The man who waters his grass after a good rain is carrying coals to Newcastle./ * /Joe was carrying coals to Newcastle when he told the doctor how to… … Dictionary of American idioms
Carry coals to Newcastle — Newcastle New cast le, prop. n. A town in England. [PJC] {Carry coals to Newcastle} to do something utterly superfluous; to do something useless or wasteful; from the nearness of Newcastle to the coal mining district. [PJC] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
carry coals to Newcastle — carry/take coals to Newcastle British to take something to a place or a person that has a lot of that thing already. Exporting pine to Scandinavia is a bit like carrying coals to Newcastle … New idioms dictionary
carry\ coals\ to\ Newcastle — v. phr. To do something unnecessary; bring or furnish something of which there is plenty. The man who waters his grass after a good rain is carrying coals to Newcastle. Joe was carrying coals to Newcastle when he told the doctor how to cure a… … Словарь американских идиом
To carry coals to Newcastle — Carry Car ry, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Carried}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Carrying}.] [OF. carier, charier, F. carrier, to cart, from OF. car, char, F. car, car. See {Car}.] 1. To convey or transport in any manner from one place to another; to bear; often… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
carry coals to Newcastle — Meaning To do something pointless and superfluous. Origin Newcastle in England was a well known coal mining area and the first coal exporting port. Taking coal there was an architypally pointless activity, on a par with selling snow to Eskimos … Meaning and origin of phrases
carry coals to Newcastle — verb To do something that is unneeded or redundant … Wiktionary
carry coals to Newcastle — idi to provide something already present in abundance … From formal English to slang
