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Meaning of make bricks without straw | Babel Free

Verb CEFR C2

Definitions

To accomplish a task without the proper materials or under unreasonable conditions; to do the impossible.

idiomatic

Examples

“The founders did more than "make bricks without straw; they dreamed of a great cathedral and laid the foundations for it.”
“To call on the owners of little farms, the tradesmen, labourers and sailors to pay their proportion of a [£20,000] tax, when perhaps there is not half that sum in circulation is something harder than being forced to make bricks without straw,” he wrote; "it is to make them without clay."”
“The problems that we may find ourselves confronted with may be similar to a make bricks without straw condition, imposed by not only others but in large measure ourselves.”

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See all C2 English words →

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