Meanings
present singular third person gets blood out of a stone · participle present getting blood out of a stone · past got blood out of a stone · UK participle past got blood out of a stone · US participle past gotten blood out of a stone · alternative get blood from a stone · alternative get blood from/out of a turnip
- idiomaticTo do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless.
"I suppose the law has some protection to offer them." "Can the law get blood out of a stone? I haven't any money. I've got about a hundred pounds."
1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC1 more example
Bradley looked at the fire, with a working face, and was silent for a while. At last he said, with what seemed an inconsistent composure of voice and feature: ‘You can’t get blood out of a stone, Riderhood.’
1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 15, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLCSynonyms: get blood from a turnip, get blood out of a turnip, pull teeth, squeeze blood out of a turnip
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless.
Translations
Finnish puristaa vettä kivestä, yrittää muuttaa kiveä leiväksi
- puristaa vettä kivestäto do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless
- yrittää muuttaa kiveä leiväksito do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless
German Blut aus einem Stein pressen
- Blut aus einem Stein pressento do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless
Italian cavare sangue da una rapa
- cavare sangue da una rapato do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless
Korean 하늘의 별 따기
- 하늘의 별 따기 (haneur-ui byeol ttagi)to do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless
Polish wyciskać wodę z kamienia, wycisnąć wodę z kamienia
- wyciskać wodę z kamieniato do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless
- wycisnąć wodę z kamieniato do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless
Portuguese tirar leite de pedra
- tirar leite de pedrato do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless
Spanish sacar água de las piedras
- sacar água de las piedrasto do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless
Cite this entry
get blood out of a stone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20blood%20out%20of%20a%20stone
“get blood out of a stone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20blood%20out%20of%20a%20stone. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get blood out of a stone,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20blood%20out%20of%20a%20stone.
Source: get blood out of a stone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.