dəyirmanına su tökmək

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Literally, "to pour water on [one's] mill".

similar constructions in other languages

Compare English water to one's mill, Catalan portar l’aigua al seu molí, tirar l’aigua al seu molí, Dutch water naar iemands molen leiden, Finnish saada vettä myllyynsä, French apporter de l’eau au moulin de quelqu’un, Italian tirar l'acqua al proprio mulino, German Wasser auf jemandes Mühle leiten, Norwegian få vann på mølla, Persian آب به آسیاب دشمن ریختن (âb be âsyâb-e došman rixtan), Russian лить воду на мельницу (litʹ vodu na melʹnicu), Swedish hälla vatten på kvarnen, Uzbek tegirmoniga suv quymoq etc.

Pronunciation

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Verb

dəyirmanına su tökmək (intransitive)

1. (idiomatic) to lend support to an opponent or enemy as an unintended consequence of an action one takes, especially in discourse

Further reading

• “dəyirmanına su tökmək” in Obastan.com.