can't do anything with

Idioms  

1. Unable to cope with or manage someone or something. For example, I can't do anything with my hair, or My teenage daughter is very difficult—I can't do anything with her. This expression uses do in the sense of “deal with,” a usage dating from the early 1500s.

---

Example Sentences

On Sunday, Washington had an eight-minute drive that didn’t cross midfield, prompting the question: What good is having the ball for all that time if the offense can’t do anything with it?

From Washington Post • Dec. 5, 2022

“Life is so unpredictable and uncertain. We can’t do anything with this uncertainty.”

From New York Times • Oct. 8, 2022

“If you really have two patrol cars out there, you can’t do anything with 200 other cars on the runway,” Sheriff’s Sgt.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 22, 2022

"We can't do anything with that £437m," he added.

From BBC • Jun. 20, 2022

The barber said, “Sir, I can’t do anything with this until your hair’s been washed.”

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis