From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishspin your wheelsspin your wheelsAmerican English to continue trying to do something without having any success I felt like I was just spinning my wheels trying to make him understand. → spin
Examples from the Corpus
spin your wheels• At the heart of all of the basic questions about normality we shall find we are spinning our wheels.• And so you stay stuck, spinning your wheels, and getting angry or depressed.• I felt like I was just spinning my wheels trying to make him understand. 