From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfight a losing battlefight a losing battleFAILto try to do something that you probably cannot succeed in doing I’m fighting a losing battle on this diet. → fight
Examples from the Corpus
fight a losing battle• And yet despite all this the pounds were creeping up on us and we seemed to be fighting a losing battle.• Even with the addition of the Morning Post to the publishing empire in 1924, Die-hard journalism was fighting a losing battle.• For most of these people they were fighting a losing battle.• Under the present conditions of economic recession, regional policies are fighting a losing battle.• Why couldn't she see she was fighting a losing battle?• The 84-year-old Oscar-winner has been fighting a losing battle against failing sight for the past year.• The windscreen wipers sounded asthmatic, fighting a losing battle against the insistent rain.• He tried hard to do this, but he was fighting a losing battle here against the rising tide of papal authority. 