can't do anything with

can't do anything with (someone or something)

Cannot manage or contain someone or something. You just can't do anything with three energetic toddlers, and I have a headache from trying. I can't do anything with all these books and papers my daughter brings home from school—it's like they multiply overnight!

See also: anything

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

can't do anything with someone or something

not [to be] able to manage or control someone or something. (Also with cannot.) Bill is such a discipline problem. I can't do anything with him. My hair is such a mess. I just can't do anything with it.

See also: anything

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

can't do anything with

Unable to cope with or manage someone or something. For example, I can't do anything with my hair, or My teenage daughter is very difficult-I can't do anything with her. This expression uses do in the sense of "deal with," a usage dating from the early 1500s.

See also: anything

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.