瞎子点灯白费蜡

比喻白费劲。董振玉 《精明人的苦恼》三：“不脱鞋擦地板，赶着擦赶着埋汰，那不成了瞎子点灯白费蜡，新书记能满意吗？”浩然《艳阳天》第一卷·第八章： “我看咱们多余这一手，瞎子点灯，白费蜡，不如来个干脆的！”

瞎子点灯白费蜡xiā zi diǎn dēng bái fèi là

lightinga candle for a blind man-absolutely useless; a sheer waste
❍ 几次都是闹了个～。(冯志《敌后武工队》282) But all his efforts were a total waste of time.
❍ 他的腿跑肿了，心费烂了，还是闹个瞎子点灯——白费蜡。(冯志《敌后武工队》134) He was,as the saying goes,like a blind man using a candle-only wasting wax.

瞎子点灯白费蜡xia zi dian deng pai fei la

【口语】lighting a candle for a blind man—sheer waste

瞎子点灯白费蜡xiā zi diǎn dēnɡ bái fèi là

形容白费工夫，做无用功。a sheer waste, a blind man lighting a candle is no use