П-579

КАК В ПРОРВУ highly coll как + PrepP Invar adv or subj-compl with бытье ( subj: usu. a noun denoting money, efforts etc)) ( usu. in refer, to appreciable amounts of money, energy etc spent on sth. ) sth. is completely wasted, has no perceptible results

itfs money (a lot of effort etc) down the drain (the tubes)

(in limited contexts) (ift) like throwing it sth. down a well (into a bottomless pit).

"...Им сто твоих зарплат не хватит, дели - не дели, всё равно не насытишь, как в прорву...» (Иоффе 1). "You could pay them a hundred times over, share everything you've got with them, and they'd never be satisfied. It's like throwing it down a well!" (1a).