carry coals to Newcastle
To take a thing where it is already most abundant
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Main Entry: ↑coal
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to supply something to a place or person when they do not need it because they have a lot of it already
Thesaurus: general words meaning to givesynonym
Main entry: coal
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New|cas|tle «NOO KAS uhl, -KAHS-; NYOO-», noun.carry coals to Newcastle, a) to do something unnecessary; waste one's time, effort, resources, or talents: »
At first sight it seems like carrying coals to Newcastle…when the impressive logic of senior…officials is applied to a process largely governed by the electronic logic of computers (London Times).
b) to bring something to a place where it is unneeded (such as coal to Newcastle, England, where it is plentiful): »It sounds like carrying coals to Newcastle, but Lord & Taylor's cosmetics department is importing water (New York Times).
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carry coals to Newcastle — see ↑coal
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Main Entry: ↑carry
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carry, take, etc. coals to ˈNewcastle idiom
(BrE) to take goods to a place where there are already plenty of them; to supply sth where it is not needed Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the north of England, was once an important coal-mining centre.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.