draw water with a bamboo basket—a useless effort;achieve nothing;all for (/comes to)naught;all in vain; be of no avail
? 咳！ 這一來，～！ (梁斌《紅旗譜》163) Ah! we were drawing water in a bamboo basket.
竹籃子打水一場空
draw water with a leaky bamboo basket—end up with nothing;make futile attempts,get no where;draw water with a sieve—fruitless labor