blood from a turnip
Futile resource seeking
Blood from a turnip describes something impossible to obtain, especially money or resources from someone who has none to give.
The full expression is usually you can't get blood from a turnip—no amount of pressure will yield what isn't there.
Variants substitute stone for turnip.
Used when creditors, tax collectors, or anyone else pursues someone with nothing left to extract.
- running dryBecoming exhausted of supply
- scraping the bottom of the barrelUsing inferior remaining options
- tapped outExhausted of funds
- running on emptyOperating without remaining resources
- wringing outTwisting to extract liquid
bare bones · chasing rainbows · tilting at windmills · threadbare · slim pickings · scraping by · spinning wheels · going nowhere fast · dead end · uphill battle · last resort · bone dry · dry as dust · throwing in the towel · growing pains · penny-pinching · beating a dead horse · biting the bullet
blood from a turniplow-hanging fruit
Readily attainable objectives
easy pickings · sure thing · money in the bank · slam dunk · like shooting fish in a barrel
blood from a turnipcash cow
Dependable income source
golden goose · gold mine · money tree · deep pockets · cornucopia
blood, bloods, bloody, bloodied, bloodier, bloodiest, bloodily, bloodiness, bleeding