making bricks without straw

A form of make bricks without straw — To accomplish a task without the proper materials or under unreasonable conditions; to do the impossible.

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Meanings

verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of make bricks without straw

    This was not quite making bricks without straw, but it certainly moved us a lot closer to it at a time when very little straw was available. Taking account of data limitations in theoretical work is one thing. Being complacent about those limitations is quite another.

    1991, Jacob A. Frenkel, Morris Goldstein, International Financial Policy: Essays in honor of Jacques J Polak, →ISBN, page 8
Cite this entry
APA

making bricks without straw. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/making%20bricks%20without%20straw

MLA

“making bricks without straw.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/making%20bricks%20without%20straw. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “making bricks without straw,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/making%20bricks%20without%20straw.

Source: making bricks without straw on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.