spin your wheels
spin (one's) wheels
To waste one's time or energy idly or frivolously; to neither progress nor regress, but remain in a fixed, neutral position. They kept me on to manage what's left of this division, but to be honest, I've just been spinning my wheels here for the last couple of years. We haven't been able to do anything new until more funding comes in, so the project is just spinning its wheels for the moment.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
spin your wheels
mainly AMERICANIf someone spins their wheels, they fail to achieve anything satisfactory. He's not getting anywhere. He's just spinning his wheels. For almost an hour now he had been spinning his wheels, accomplishing nothing.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
spin your wheels
waste your time or efforts. North American informal 2001 Time As long as our national energy policy is demand-driven…we will continue to spin our wheels.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
spin your ˈwheels
use your time, energy, etc. without achieving anything: I had the feeling that the company was spinning its wheels and getting nowhere. ▶ ˈwheel-spinning noun: Save yourself some wheel-spinning and head to the library.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017