水中捞月

水中撈月
shuǐzhōng-lāoyuè
  1. (figurative) to make a hopeless, futile or vain effort at doing something; to ask for the moon
  2. to make a hopeless, futile or vain effort at doing something; to ask for the moon

Wiktionary

Homographs

水中捞月 shuǐzhōnglāoyuè
  1. lit. to scoop the moon out of the water (idiom)
  2. fig. a hopeless endeavor

Entry Composition

1 水中 shuǐzhōng in water; under water
2 捞 lāo
  1. to fish up
  2. to dredge up
3 月 yuè
  1. moon
  2. month
  3. monthly

classifiers: 個, 輪