spin wheels

spin one's wheels

to waste time; to remain in a neutral position, neither advancing nor falling back. (Fig. on a car that is running but is not moving because its wheels are spinning in mud, etc.) I'm just spinning my wheels in this job. I need more training to get ahead. The whole project was just spinning its wheels until spring.

See also: spin, wheel

---

spin your wheels  (American informal)

to waste time doing things that achieve nothing (often in continuous tenses) If we're just spinning our wheels, let us know and we'll quit.

See also: spin, wheel

---

spin (your) wheels

to use a lot of effort but not get anything done For almost an hour now he had been spinning his wheels, accomplishing nothing. Seattle was spinning wheels while Texas beat New York to take a two-game lead in the division.

See also: spin, wheel

spin your wheels

to waste time doing something that is not effective For almost an hour he had been spinning his wheels on the telephone when he could have fixed the problem himself in less than hour.

See also: spin, wheel